CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Friday, families honor their loved ones who lost their lives during the early start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They tell us three years ago they wouldn't have expected the effect the virus would have on their lives.
"The hurt. It doesn't go away. It's still there,” said Leticia Mondragon. “I don't care how old you are when you lose your mother, it's a pain I can't describe. I talk to her every day, I still do.”
Mondragon lost her mother in November 2020, two days before Thanksgiving. That loss has stayed with her.
She's since found ways to cope with that, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Mondragon visits her loved ones once or twice a week.
"It brings me comfort that my mother is here, I have a brick for my brother and my dad. My grandma and even little Bella who was my first patient at. Be the match,” Mondragon said.
She said the red bricks represent someone who passed from COVID-19. Alfonso Ramirez also has family members he's visiting at the prayer garden.
"If I feel the need to be around my dad or my sister. I'll come here or to the cemetery to have some quiet time,” Delfina Ramirez said.
After three years, Ramirez and his sister Delfina tear up when they think about the father and sister they lost.
"Appreciate those people that are around you because COVID is still around and even though you still see people dying from it like this,” said Ramirez. “People are still having effects from it.”
The Ramirez family said to those experiencing the same type of loss, to remember the good times and continue honoring their legacy. On days like today.
