The families of the Robb Elementary School shooting victims are sharing their stories in order to keep their memories alive.
Two families are linked in their children’s stories. Monica is the mother of Annabell Rodriguez. She told Good Morning America that Annabell had spent a lot of her year with her crush.
Felicha was fond of joking about their kids’ close bond. They never imagined that the two 10-year-olds would be comforting each other in their final moments on Earth.
Annabell Rodriguez came home from her first day of fourth grade with nice things to say about one of her classmates. Monica Gallegos remembers Annabell admiring how she smelled. She learned that the two were writing notes.
The families of Annabell’s and Xavier’s were getting together for barbecues by the time winter ended. Monica and Felicha talked about the bond between their kids. They were amused when they learned that the two were texting each other.
“I and Felicha would laugh, like, ‘How do y’all know about love?'” Monica recalled.
Annabell was given a picture of Xavier on a chain. Annabell kept it in her backpack at all times and wore it to her Little League games.
Monica and Felicha went to the school cafeteria the morning of May 24 to get their picture taken with each other. It was the first time that the man had made the honor roll. Annabell received a music certificate and made the honor roll.
The photo was taken an hour before the classroom was entered. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed that day. All 11 children in the classroom were killed.
It is a sad end to a friendship. The mothers of the children didn’t know that the two had known each other. When Annabell was a toddler, her grandparents lived at a trailer park in Uvalde. When Annabell was there, she often saw the two of them playing outside.
He was a charismatic little boy according to his grandmother and he would sell his salsas to his friends and neighbors when he was young. He would use the money to buy his brother’s toys and loved dancing with his grandmother.
Annabell had a close relationship with her grandma. She did her nails after school. In the summer, the family would go to the banks of the Nueces and Frio rivers to sell hot dogs. Annabell ran the snow cone machine.
The teacher and Annabell were both shots. He recently spoke about how sad it was to lose all the children who were with him that day. One of the many details that break his heart about that day is the special bond between Annabell and Xavier.
“He would make things for her, he would write notes for her,” Arnulfo recalled.
“It brings a smile to your face just to think they really loved each other.”
He was buried in Uvalde on June 7. Four days after Jacklyn Cazares was buried, Annabell’s funeral is to be held. The families decided to bury the two little ones next to each other. It is heartbreaking for everyone involved, to wonder what could have come from these bright young lives.
