UVALDE, Tex. – Outside the city center post office, Maricela Sánchez, 33, burst into tears when asked what it was like to grow up in Uvalde.
The city is not violent, he said. “We’re not hateful people.”
Some people in the city sleep with their doors open, he added.
Martina Avila, 21, moved to Uvalde when she was 12 and soon became close friends.
“Everyone is so affectionate and affectionate, and as a community, we’re very much, you know, together as a family,” said Avila, a college student who took her 5-year-old daughter, Madalynn, to the plaza. the city. to show support for your community. She held up a sign that said, “Remember their names,” written with a red marker with two hearts. “It’s like any small town. We are for each other in good times and bad.”
It is a place where everyone helps when there is a fundraising dinner for someone facing a medical emergency or for the benefit of a sports team. Many families are large and people tend to stay or return to raise their children. “We’re happy here,” Sanchez said. “If something bad happens, it’s very rare.”