Central Texas community grapples with loss

Central Texas community grapples with loss

As COVID cases continue to rise across Texas, there is understandably a rise in COVID-19 related deaths.

Hospital ICUs are filling up with more and more COVID-19 cases … some never making it out.

Funeral homes, like Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen, are feeling a major case of déjà vu and a tragic trend they hoped to never see again.

“It’s very similar to what we experienced early in the year last year,” said Steve Faram, general manager of Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home. “I can’t say that I really didn’t expect it but, I was kind of surprised as the numbers started increasing as they have.”

COVID-19 doesn’t seem to care if you are rich, poor, good, or bad. It strikes everyone the same.

The devastation of the sudden death of a loved one to COVID-19 is something district 17 director of The League of United Latin American Citizens, AnaLuisa Tapia, tragically learned after her husband, Lorenzo, lost his fight against COVID-19 over the weekend.

“My husband went onto glory on Saturday the 21st at 3 a.m.,” said Tapia.

Tapia and her husband were putting off getting vaccinated due to work schedules.

Tragically, it turned out to be a decision she now regrets, and one she doesn’t want to see anyone else make.

“If there is a place you can take a shot, go ahead and do it,” said Tapia. “Don’t put it off and if you get a reaction call in. I would rather have had my husband call in than to have my husband not be here on earth anymore.”

Tapia has had a flood of phone calls and condolences, but she says the best way to honor the retired Army veteran she married, is to do the things he would do for others.

“If you knew that he would feed the homeless, go out and help somebody,” said Tapia. “Go out and feed the homeless. If you knew that he would go and fix your tire, go and do that. Take that spot, fill that gap, and let’s continue. Let’s continue taking care of each other.”

Tapia is urging the public to take the vaccines and treatments seriously because COVID-19 is serious, and she doesn’t want other families to go through what she and her family are going through now.

Tapia said her message on the COVID-19 vaccine is simple, don’t put it off.

Expreso de la Mañana se despide de Ana Luisa Ganuza

Find Out How the Stars Align for Your Pottery Personality

I’ll be the first to confess that I wake, breathe, and dream about ceramics. My YouTube video recommendations are an amalgamation of wheel-throwing tutorials, hand-building techniques, and glazing demonstrations. I’m quick to lift up a mug at a local café and check the stamp of the potter who made said vessel. Some pet puppies; I pet vases.

After years of infatuation, I’ve come to associate different clay styles with certain personality types. Explore this list of sophisticated potters, and what each one reveals about you.

Pottery personality: For the calm, cool, and collected

If you’re drawn to Bombabird, chances are that you also wear unbleached organic cotton, you’re a reserved yet highly perceptive dinner party guest, and you might be found propagating pilea for neighbors. Your dream vacation is being snowed into a cabin in Maine with a wood-burning stove, a tall stack of books, and a 1,500-piece-puzzle of a foggy cliff vista.

Bombabird Ceramics Handmade Textured Bud Vases

$42.00, Food52

Pottery personality: The nature lover

Introducing the one and only Jonathan Yamakami. Nature lovers unite over a mutual love for Jonathan’s work. Let me guess: You were big into exploring tide pools as a child. You probably love evening walks, savory breakfasts, wind chimes, and you surely have a coffee-table book about the art of Ikebana.

Jonathan Yamakami Seedpod 2

$410.00, In Various Forms

Pottery personality: Rebel with a cause

Check out LBP Clay. Or don’t. What do you care? Because you march to the beat of your own drum. You got your first tattoo when you were a teenager and you still fucking love it. You might just have a German shepherd named Baby. You spend every Sunday helping your grandma write her memoir. You have synesthesia and you don’t even publicly brag about it. You definitely cut your own hair.

LBP Clay Small Sawtooth Vase

$180.00, LBP Clay

Pottery personality: Young at heart

Bold stripes mixed with iridescent glazes and pastel hues, Whitney Simpkins’s Personal Best Ceramics collection is for the lollipop-lickers, karaoke queens, and dedicated diary scribblers. You’ve been known to have a themed birthday extravaganza. Let me guess, Old Hollywood? Disco?

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Personal Best Ceramics Wriggle Vase

$155.00, Personal Best Ceramics

Pottery personality: The It Girl

How does it feel to be everyone’s No. 1 crush? Those drawn to Analuisa Corrigan’s ceramics and sculptures are natural-born showstoppers. You walk in a room and turn heads. You “just whip something up,” and it’s the best meal your guests have ever tasted. Your skin: always flawless. You speak five languages. You summer in Greece. You fix your own car.

Analuisa Corrigan It’s My Show Here

$1920.00, Ana Luisa Corrigan

Pottery personality: Daydream believer

Sam Kelly is for the flower children out there. You’re a tie-dye-wearing, wildflower-picking, Ayurvedic-eating, open-water-swimming, essential oils savant. You often wonder about life outside of our planet. You’re humble, compassionate, caring, and have a seriously contagious laugh.

Sam Kelly Starry Eyes Trinket Dish

$28.00, Sam Kelly

Pottery personality: Craver of color

Those with eyes for the Danish brand Raawii are the ultimate design peacocks (and yes, that’s a compliment in our book). These individuals walk into our world and put grins on our faces. You’re a Memphis Design–loving, vintage Datsun-driving, “silk scarf tied around your hair”-wearing, show-tune-singing, electric-blue-nail-polish-painting, dirty-martini-sipping, “dance till dawn”-ing super human! You are vibrant! You are fierce! You are loved!

Raawii Strøm Vase

$75.00, Matches Fashion

Pottery personality: Careful and considered

Is it all just too much to take on? Not for you, you Rachel Saunders stan, you. See, because you know how to set boundaries. Your planner is leather-bound and costs more than a week’s salary, but you’re organized as hell, so it’s worth every penny. You make your own chia parfaits. Your side hustle recently graduated to your full-time job. And it’s all thanks to your daily morning meditation practice.

Rachel Saunders The Phone Home

$140.00, Rachel Saunders Ceramics

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest