The Uvalde shooting has been a nightmare for the entire country. But for the families living in the wake of this tragedy, it is an unfathomable amount of pain.
One family is both in mourning and relieved. They lost their son but their daughter survived.
Jose Flores and Andrea Herrera were said to be inseparable. The siblings rode the bus to Robb Elementary School together every morning. The siblings were together the entire time till they said goodbye while heading to their classrooms, him to Room 111 and her into Room 104.
On the fateful day of the shooting, Jose had been celebrated at a ceremony for his good grades. No one knew that just a few hours later, Jose would be one of the 19 students who was fatally shot by a gunman who had gained access to the school through an open door.
In the other classroom, his sister narrowly escaped the gunman by jumping out of a window.
Andrea and Jose’s family are left with the big task of having to grieve one child while helping the other recover from this mammoth tragedy. The kids were step-siblings to one another, their parents had been single parents who met one another and quickly fell in love.
Their children being close to each other in age were quick to get used to one another and became fast friends when they were toddlers. Their parents had two more children together, Jayden Alexander Flores, now 5, and Jayce Axel Flores, 7 months.
Jose was the oldest child in the brood at 10-years-old followed by Andrea who was 9-years-old. The reason both children were in the same grade was that Jose had briefly struggled at school. His parents say he went to school for his friends, lunch, and recess. But at the urging of his parents to take things more seriously lest he has to stay behind another year, the boy started to take more interest in his studies.
He did not want his bad grades to affect his dream of becoming a police officer. He improved his grades to the point that he was included in the honor roll, an achievement he felt very proud about if the smile in his photo is anything to go by.
Jose was in the classroom that was targeted first. Andrea’s classroom was nearby. She later recounted to her grandparents that she saw a teacher getting shot before she panicked and jumped out the window.
When their parents got the news about the shooting, they were horrified. “They told us, pick up your children at the civic center, so I rushed there,” Mr. Flores said.
His daughter arrived but he kept waiting for Jose. But the child never came.
“At the end they were like, ‘Well, that’s it. All the buses have come,’” he remembered. Only a few parents were left by that point. Someone mentioned to Flores Sr. that he should check at the hospital since some children were taken there.
At the hospital, Flores Sr. got the heartbreaking news. His beloved son had been shot three times, including once on the side of the head. He asked to see his son, to which a doctor agreed but he was stopped in time by a police official, who said as a dad, he does not think Flores Sr. should see his son in that condition.
But not having to see Jose in that condition did not stop the family from imagining the worst. His grandfather, Martin Herrera, kept thinking what the bullets must have done to his young body.
The family has made a shrine to honor their son. The shrine includes pictures of the boy next to family members, candles of La Virgen de Guadalupe, snacks he loved to eat, and Uvalde Little League No. 6 jersey.
The family have chosen a coffin that resembles a movie poster, with Jose smiling with angel wings sprouting out of his back, a sports car driving through the universe, as well as a flaming baseball flying through the heavens. Mourners who will come to the visitation are asked to wear dark blue and on his burial later to wear white.
Jose’s room at his house remains the same. He shared the room with his little brother Jayden who has since then refused to sleep in the room or even sleep in the same house.
The family says the house is filled with memories of Jose that are painful in the wake of his death. As for Andrea, the family says the 9-year-old has become withdrawn after the incident and is constantly afraid that the shooter will come back.
Surviving a tragedy takes a lot of strength. We hope the family finds peace and healing from their loss.
Please join us in praying for the Flores-Herrera family.
