The young woman had undergone the transformation through a Quinceañera, a centuries-old Hispanic tradition that celebrates a young woman's journey into adulthood on her 15th birthday. The word "Quinceañera" comes from Spanish quince for 15 and años for years.

"It is like Americans' sweet 16 party," says Jorge Garcia, who is a Spanish instructor at De Anza College. Garcia is a third-generation Mexican immigrant. "It formally introduces a girl into the society, like a coming-out party." Some compare it to the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony for girls, the bat mitzvah.

The origin of the ceremony remains obscure. Some scholars say the ceremony might have begun more than 500 years ago, during the Aztec era.

According to Bernardino de Sahagun's Historia de Nurva Eespaña, this event was when Aztec parents formally admitted their daughters into womanhood through a religious rite. When Spain invaded Mexico in the 16th century, priests accompanied the colonial ventures so that they could spread Roman Catholicism. Later Roman Catholic rituals and the Aztec tradition merged and evolved into today's Quinceañera.

Quinceañera is mostly for girls. Although boys have a bigger party than the ones they had for earlier birthdays when they turn 15, their birthday parties are not as elaborate as girls'.

"Girls are getting more attention because in our culture, girls are the ones who educate the next generation," Garcia says.

The ceremony of Quinceañera is like "a wedding without the groom," as Gomez's mother, Maria, puts it. It normally consists of a Mass and a fiesta afterwards.

But how Quinceañera is celebrated differs from family to family and region to region. Some families just have a Mass or a small party in their garage. Some hold extravagant parties, where hundreds of guests are invited to have a catered banquet at a reception hall, with a mariachi band playing.

"The social pressure is great for parents," Garcia says. "Some parents even borrow from the bank to have a Quinceañera to show their neighbors and relatives that they can do it. It has become extremely difficult for families who have a lot of daughters."

Garcia says in Zapata, the small town in Texas where he came from, many parents are poor farmers, so his mother organized a committee to raise funds to host a group Quinceañera at which all the girls in the county could celebrate the ceremony for free.

In Gomez's case, a grand Quinceañera is not only her dream but also her mother's.

"I didn't have a Quinceañera when I was a girl," Maria, 34, says. "On my 15th birthday, my mom bought me a new pair of jeans and a shirt. And we went to Denny's for breakfast. My parents were poor. That was all they could afford."

Although Maria and her husband, Miguel, both work, Quinceañera is still a great financial burden to them. It cost them more than $10,000. Miguel, who works for a tree service company, had to work more than 10 hours a day. And other family priorities like buying a house have been postponed.

"We could put all the money to the down payment of a house, but we want to create beautiful memories for our daughter," Maria says. "You only have one 15-year-old birthday in your life."

As early as a year ago, the Gomezes began preparing for the Quinceañera.

As is the custom, on the day of Quinceañera, Gomez would be escorted by a half court of honor, seven damas (girls) and seven chambelanes (boys). Each person represents a year of the girl's life. She also would have a chambelan de honor, her prince charming, for the evening.

"The chambelan de honor is usually a boyfriend, a close friend or a brother," Garcia says. "Before a girl is 15, the father is the care-provider. But after a girl reaches 15, the girl will be protected by young men instead of her father."

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer Veronica's half court of honor includes 14 escorts and a Prince Charming.

For a little more than two months, Gomez and her half court of honor, ages between 5 and 15, practiced proceeding from the church door to the altar during the Mass. They practiced in the courtyard in back of her Sunnyvale apartment. They also learned a group dance, a waltz, for the party following the Mass. For two months, they practiced weekly. The last week, they practiced three hours every day. Some of them came all the way from Stockton for the practice.

The efforts paid off as the group walked gracefully into St. Joseph Church in Mountain View.

Rev. Oscar Tabujara performed the Gomez's Quinceañera.

While the damas wore pink silk strapless gowns, Gomez wore a two-piece gown with a white beaded bodice and a full skirt. Girls usually wear a white dress to show purity.

Gomez first placed a bouquet of fresh roses on the altar to show her gratitude to the Virgin Mary for protecting her during the first 15 years of her life. It was also a plea to keep watching over the girl for the rest of her life, Maria says.

Then she knelt on an embroidered pillow in front of the altar while Tabujara read from Scripture that Gomez and her mother had selected for the occasion.

"I have made thee overseer this day over the nations and over the kingships, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, and to build and to plant," Tabujara cited in Spanish from Jeremiah 1:4-10.

Gomez and her parents gave thanks to God for all the blessings they had received since her birth. They also prayed to God that Gomez could continue fulfilling God's will throughout her life.

Maria placed a tiara on Gomez's head. "The tiara presents Veronica as a princess before God and the world," Maria says. "It is a triumph over childhood and ability to face the challenges ahead."

Then Gomez's grandmother gave her a bracelet and rings, which represent the never-ending cycle of life and the beginning of the young woman's contributions to society. Her grandmother also gave her gold earrings, which remind Gomez to listen to God and always hear and respond to the world around her.

Other gifts Gomez received included a medallion, a scepter, a Bible and a rosary, which signify her faith in God, herself and the world. Gomez then took Communion and read her vow.

"Thank you, Lord, for calling me to be, to live in the image and likeness of you," Gomez said. "With your help, I will dedicate myself more to serving you."

After Gomez finished her vow, Tabujara presented her to the audience as a woman.

But the Quinceañera was not over yet.

Two limousines ferried Gomez, her godparents, and half court of honor to a party at the Ramada Inn in Sunnyvale. More than 200 relatives and friends were invited to the catered dinner.

The highlight of the party was when Miguel and Gomez's godfather, Joseph Muñoz, carried barefooted Gomez to the reception hall and Miguel knelt in front of Gomez and put a pair of high-heel slippers on her. Maria put the tiara on Gomez again. Her sister, Stephanie, presented her last child gift, la muñeca de los recuerdos (a memorabilia doll), to her.

In her high-heel slippers, Gomez first danced with her chambelan de honor and then with her father. Miguel, though seeming stiff in his rented tuxedo, waltzed Gomez around the dancing floor, as a disc jockey played the song Daddy's Little Girl. Then he handed Gomez back to the chambelan de honor.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Miguel asked guests while looking at Gomez dance with her damas and chambelanes.

The night ended with a toast to Gomez. And she cut a three-tiered, rose-decorated cake.

For Gomez, Quinceañera was more than a fairy-tale-like ceremony. It meant that more responsibilities are on her shoulders.

"I am no longer a child," Gomez said. "The world is open to me. I have to think about college and my future because I am a woman now."