The months of July and August have been the most difficult for a large McKinney family. The Armijo, Arzola and Pacheco families have lost five family members to COVID-19 in a matter of a month’s time.
“People still don't believe it's real, but it's very real,” said Blanca Pacheco.
On Tuesday, more than 200 people attended funeral services in Allen for husband and wife Francisco and Estella Arzola. Services inside the chapel at Turrentine Jackson Morrow Funeral Home were for the family only. Many more friends of the family gathered outside for burial services.
“We are experiencing probably the worst of it,” said Ruben Armijo Jr.
Two caskets were loaded onto horse-drawn carriages and taken to the final resting spots. The family sat in chairs under a large tent where Mexican music was being played to honor the Arzolas.
The family told WFAA the music being played were songs the family would sing and dance to together.
“[The music] is something for them, to serenade them. We need to celebrate their life,” said Fernando Pacheco.
In total, five members of the larger family have died from the virus starting with their grandfather Jose, 88, in mid-July. Soon after, on July 23, Fernando’s mother Angelica Pacheco, 58, died. In early August, Estella Arzola, 64, had died. And in mid-August Francisco Arzola, 65, and Ruben Armijo Sr., 64, had died from the virus.
The family told WFAA that the family had taken precautions during the pandemic and hadn't seen each other for months to practice safe social distancing.
“That one percent are family members, friends, our grandparents, uncles, cousins...and they have names,” said Fernando Pacheco.
According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 173,490 people have died from COVID-19 as of late Friday. The family told WFAA they want the public to know their loved ones were not statistics, they were people.
“It's kinda like a nightmare we wish we can wake up from,” said Armijo Jr.
Funerals before the pandemic may have looked different but grief is all the same.
The audible and heartbreaking grief seen under the tent at the Tuesday funerals, were as real as the warning the family wants to give the public: “For this country to be great we have to care for each other. No precaution is too much,” said Armijo Jr.