Hundreds of strangers came forward to pay their respects to a woman who was a victim of El Paso, Texas, mass shooting.
This happened after a public appeal was made for strangers to attend the funeral.
The mourners stood against 100-degree heat on Friday and were present outside La Paz Faith Center to pay respects to the sixty-three-year-old who was amongst the twenty-two victims killed by a gunman in Walmart.
Margie Reckard was Antonio Basco’s wife. Basco invited public since he had no family to mourn the death of his partner of more than two decades. It was reported that there were more than seven hundred attendees.
Jordan Billard flew from Los Angeles to Texas just to attend the funeral. A twenty-one-year-old Natalie Sanchez who attended the funeral said that she was in awe of how El Paso had come together for the funeral.
As Basco made his way to the center aisle, everyone present clapped vigorously. Owner of Carter’s Flowers, Jose Delgado, came with more than seventy floral arrangements and his wife. He said that whatever happened was saddening but seeing everyone unite for the service was beautiful.
Basco shouted blessing in Spanish and English for the well-wishers and was gifted an El Paso t-shirt by someone. The last thing he said before breaking down was that he loves everyone.
Basco thanked everyone who came personally who in return hugged him. The gathering overwhelmed Basco and he was shocked to see strangers running towards him to offer condolences and show love.
Mariachis also walked through the crowd and sang ‘Amar Eterno’, a 1984 ballad by Juan Gabriel. The ballad has become El Paso’s anthem since the incident. While some mourners sang along, others cried.
Basco told in one of his interviews that his wife made him the luckiest and the happiest man in the world. He revealed that he looks at the front door hoping for her to walk in and called her number several times since then.
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