WACO, TX — The recent surge of coronavirus cases in Central Texas and around the country has caused a lot of people to sit up and take notice, especially when the virus hits close to home.
Eventually we may look back at the COVID-19 crisis and think of the important people we lost.
Two of them, Moses Resendez, Sr., called "Pastor Mo", and his wife Julia, died within days of each other after they were infected with the coronavirus.
Their story and their loss tell us a lot about the pandemic in Central Texas
People in their community knew Julia and Moses Resendez well for their volunteer work and involvement. But they recently became two notable statistics when they died a few days apart from each other due to the coronavirus.
"They were loving, caring people, people of God, the kind of people who would give the shirt of their back for anybody," said their son, Gabriel Resendez, who says the family has always had a history of involvement, with their grandparents pastoring a church.
Moses went a different way at first with a drug addiction that almost killed him.
"The doctors said there was nothing they could do for my dad at the time. My grandma and them all prayed for him, and it was a miracle, but from that day on, he served God," Gabriel recalled.
Moses started Templo La Hermosa, the beautiful temple, and led many people to God. He also coached little league at the neighborhood ball park.
The Resendez children call their mother Julia "the homemaker's homemaker," looking after a large family.
"To this day when we walk around in the kitchen, we see things of hers," said Paul Resendez.
The deaths of Moses and Julia stand out for another reason. Their deaths came during a resurgence of coronavirus cases that hit the Hispanic community harder than any other.
"The Hispanic community is very familial, so you see multi-generational families living in close proximity at home," explained Waco City Councilman Hector Sabido.
The deaths of the popular couple help underscore the message from Waco leaders that the virus knows no nationality, and we all have to work to end the pandemic.
"Once we have that mentality, we know we will do our part to help those we love and who are in our inner circle," said Sabido.
Perhaps that's Pastor Mo and Julia Resendez' most lasting legacy, that for us all to survive, we have to care for each other as they did.
"We got two angels missing out of Waco, and they were people of God," said Gabriel.
Like the Resendez family, we all have to move on after a loss like this, but we should always remember the people who gave of themselves to make us and our community better.
If you would like to support the Resendez family, click here.
