Juarez-Lincoln Elementary students mourning the loss of their fellow classmate Gia Sanchez released balloons into the sky on Friday as a way to honor the sweet, outgoing girl who always had a dimpled smile for them.
During the ceremony, family members, students and staff were silent as the purple balloons soared into the gray sky. Soon after, tearful students embraced family members who cried along with them.
Karina Contreras, Gia’s mother, said Gia, a fourth grader, was perfectly healthy but developed a high fever and stomach pain. She was taken to a local hospital and then to a Corpus Christi hospital, where she passed away on Saturday, Oct. 26.
“We want to thank everyone on behalf of us, the dad and mom,” said Contreras.
Salvador Sanchez, Gia’s father, and Contreras also said they are thankful for the outpouring of support from the community. They didn’t ask for donations but contributions poured in.
Sanchez said Friday’s event brought them happiness during a very difficult time.
“She would have really loved this,” said Sanchez. “She was a people person.”
Principal Roberto Ortiz said that the school also placed a special bench in the library in honor of Gia, who was known for her love of reading.
Ortiz said Gia was “a good girl, student of the month this year and very athletic.”
“A lot of us are hurting, our teachers, our students, ourselves. It’s a good day to remember her on All Souls Day,” Ortiz said. “We’re going to remember Gia and the positive impact that she had on not just her own family but her school family.”
“Even though it’s something very emotional we’re going to take positives out of it, the positive impact that even though someone’s life was so short, it was good, well lived in that time. Not many people can say that,” Ortiz said. “We’re always going to remember that positive smile with Gia. That’s what we’re going to remember.”
In addition to the bench in the library, Gia’s memory was honored at the Dia de Los Muertos altar where a picture of her on the first day of school was surrounded by Big Red, chips and the character of Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants.
Extended family members lovingly touched the bench and viewed the altar which was surrounded by letters from Gia’s classmates who wrote that they missed her.
The mother and father took pictures of Gia’s two younger brothers sitting on her special bench. The brothers are taking it very hard, the family said. Gia used to share a room with one of the younger brothers. He hasn’t been able to sleep in the room.
Melissa Ramirez, the director for guidance and counseling, had the crisis team at the school throughout the week and will continue to be available for support.
“This is a very close-knit community here in Rio Bravo. We have a very young staff and we have a lot of people who live in this area that also work here,” Ramirez said. “Gia was a very well-known child, very well-liked and very active in different organizations so it impacted a lot of the students. They were her neighbors, they were her relatives and so we processed grief with students. We went through grief counseling with students because of the "why, why her, why her”?”
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