***sob***

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:


John-Carlos Estrada
@Mr_JCE
Meet the TX man who’s making customized caskets for each of the 19 young victims and two teachers from the school shooting in #Uvalde. Trey Ganem visited with the families last week so each casket is personalized to include each child's interests.

📷: SoulShine Industries
Image
Image
Image
Image
6:16 AM · May 31, 2022

They were just babies....

[PortTack]

1. Just sad beyond belief!!

[Nevilledog]

50. I cry each time I see the pictures.

[llmart]

53. I do too.

And I'm not usually the weepy type.

[gratuitous]

2. I'd like to put this guy out of business

Or at least free up his time for other activities.

[Javaman]

5. like art for the living. :( nt

[barbtries]

22. oh, he is doing art for the living.

Last edited Wed Jun 1, 2022, 07:07 AM - Edit history (1)

in a big big way. He's giving these parents comfort that is so sorely needed. That it will go in the ground is okay, because it will stay with their children's bones.

it's an amazingly generous and creative thing to do. Serves the highest purpose of art.

[pazzyanne]

51. + 1 nt

[soldierant]

56. I can't agree with you more.

Many people in and around the business will tell you that ALL funeral customs are for the living. Which of course makes sense.

I had seen the story but not all the pictures. So very touching.

[jmowreader]

43. There's no way you'd ever put him out of business

There is only one manufacturer of children's caskets in the US. You will always have kids dying of diseases, auto accidents, house fires and other terrible tragedies, so what he does is really needed. He does what the priests call "God's work."

However, I would truly love to cut the percentage of his business caused by mass-shooting victims down to zero.

[gratuitous]

46. That's the business I want to put him out of

[Frustratedlady]

55. I heard a comment the other day and wonder if it came from him...

"We can't continue to make children's caskets in bulk."

That hit me between the eyes. In bulk...

I can't imagine how those families are making it through each day.

[RainCaster]

62. Let's put the gun makers out of business

That's what really needs to happen. Hold them responsible for all this destruction.

[LonePirate]

3. Good for him for doing this but I cannot imagine how difficult it is.

Confronting the reality of what happened in this manner is undoubtedly difficult for him but hopefully his efforts will help the parents and families of the victims. Every aspect of this tragedy is so sad and so very unnecessary given that we as a country could have prevented it.

[crickets]

4. Not enough words for how heartbreaking this is. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. What a uniquely American success story!

[Jerry2144]

7. It is very frustrating that he

Must use his talents for decorating children’s coffins and not something less sorrowful like Utility boxes, park benches, or school murals.

The love this man has for children is obvious. May his heart survive helping with this tragedy

[In It to Win It]

8. I knew I shouldn't have opened this

but I did anyway

[KS Toronado]

9. Agree

[calimary]

30. Yeah. No shit.

[kysrsoze]

10. I don't know how he can get through the day, making these things. Bless him for it though.

What an incredibly beautiful gesture.

[Biophilic]

11. No, just no. This is just too sad and wrong and there is no way to say what I'm feeling.

The only good part is people will notice. They won't just slide those children in to quiet graves. These caskets make a statement that needs to be made. These were children with childish interests and loves. They were individuals who were living full and interesting lives. The caskets have to speak for them because they can no longer speak for themselves.

[wnylib]

12. No words.

[AllyCat]

13. OMG crying! This is just every level of horrible

Glad to see the good people trying to help where they know how.

[Cracklin Charlie]

14. Bless his heart.

His extra large heart.

[IronLionZion]

15. Children didn't sign up to pay the ultimate price for freedom

[nolabear]

16. My heart...

Art brings humanity right home, doesn’t it? These were darling, wonderful children who suffered—SUFFERED—and died because a bunch of bastards are perfectly willing to sacrifice them to their god, the gun.

[Initech]

17. Fuck. This shouldn't be happening.

This is not the America I grew up in. This shit needs to end now. We cannot keep living like this where kids are gunned down senselessly and the POS conservatives repeat their "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!" bullshit until they are blue in the face. It's time to start infringing.

[Beacool]

18. My God, what have we become as a country???

So devastating....

[iluvtennis]

19. Caskets for kids is so against nature.

[ck4829]

21. Indeed

[hibbing]

23. The size of them was enough for me, ugh n/t

[AngryOldDem]

25. I think I read they had to truck some in from Georgia.

Small caskets like that aren’t readily available, much less 19 of them at one time.

The man also said it gives the families some comfort, talking about the things their kids loved.

I wish there were a way to drive home the true magnitude and the sheer senselessness of this tragedy to those who are in a position to do something about it. Deep down they know, I think, but don’t have the moral courage to admit it.

It’s times like these that I really hope there is a final reckoning for what was done here on Earth.

[niyad]

41. If I remember correctly from a DU post last week, there is only one company

in the US that makes child-sized coffins.

[iluvtennis]

47. Wow, as it should be. Thanks for the info. n/t

[niyad]

59. See also post 43 in this thread, which I had missed.

[AwakeAtLast]

29. At least in this century

[soldierant]

57. Prior to the 20th century

it actually wasn't against nature - it was nature.

Not that that is any comfort.

[AZLD4Candidate]

20. No parents should ever bury their child.

[Bettie]

24. That is too much to bear

I appreciate this guy's work, but it just seems that it would be so freaking sad.

Those little kids, sacrificed in worship of guns.

[twodogsbarking]

26. What you said. Tears in my eyes.

[calimary]

31. "... little kids, sacrificed in worship of guns."

We should use phrases like this - as OUR weapons.

Speak of it exactly like this.

Describe it exactly like this.

And repeat, repeat, repeat. And repeat some MORE.

Because it IS the goddamn worship of guns!

They hold guns as more important than children’s lives. NINETEEN children’s lives. And that’s just the latest death toll from the latest school shooting.

[lostnfound]

45. +1 great framing

[calimary]

64. And we have to push it. PUSH it. HARD.

It’s ALL about the MESSAGING, DAMMIT!!!!!

[LaMouffette]

27. Crying and heart swelling with sorrow--again--for those kids! I wish he would build a replica of each

tiny casket that could be delivered to Washington, DC, and put on display in front of the Capitol Building so that Republican senators and representatives can be reminded (as they've already moved on) of the horror they have brought upon us by their obstructing gun control legislation.

[jmowreader]

44. Better idea

Forget the replicas. Set the actual caskets, with the children inside and the lids open, in one of the Uvalde school gymnasiums and require every single member of Congress to fly to San Antonio, be bussed to Uvalde, and to view every casket.

[LaMouffette]

49. Yes. That IS a better idea. And after viewing each one, have each Republican sit, one at a time, in

a room filled with the grieving parents and other family members and explain to them why they voted no on every piece of gun legislature to date and why they intend to continue to vote no. Then let the parents and family members have their turn to speak.

[Evolve Dammit]

54. I wish that would happen and actually affect their thinking, but I don't believe it is possible.

I don't think they have the capacity to understand or care about what death means anymore. Too far gone. And their staff would never allow such a meeting in the first place.

[budkin]

28. I can't take it

It's just too much. Those poor kids. Those poor parents...

[SoonerPride]

32. Nominee for one of the saddest jobs on the planet.

Jesus

[Joinfortmill]

33. We can't let this continue.

[Grammy23]

34. I think I know how he summoned the courage to face such a sad

task. When things like this happen, many of us want to do something for the grieving family. I mean beyond send flowers, cards or a casserole. This man has a unique skill and has decided to pour his heart and soul into doing something meaningful for these children and teachers who were slain. He has a mission — not necessarily in a religious sense — but in a sense of humanity and kindness. It will be an uplifting thing for him to do rather than soul crushing. I commend him for finding a unique way to honor and memorialize these victims and offer comfort to their families. They’ll never forget his kindness in the face of tragedy.

[ChazII]

39. +100

You said it best 'a sense of humanity and kindness'. I agree it is uplifting for him and a way to help the grieving parents.

[Captain Zero]

35. Some day there will be one for the FILIBUSTER

Let's hope.

[Ishoutandscream2]

36. THIS. IS. NOT. NORMAL!

My God, this country is so very sick.

[3auld6phart]

37. Bless him

A tearful sad humble but wonderful task. Bless him.

[Roc2020]

38. beyond heartbreaking

[Maeve]

40. Heartbreakingly beautiful

[niyad]

42. All blessings to him. And may all who make his job necessary receive EVERYTHING

they deserve.

[Withywindle]

48. Bless him

for his beautiful work, for the time he spent with the families learning everyone's story, for his art that shows the world they weren't just statistics but children with their own passions and interests. For the child who loved TikTok, for the child who loved Superman, for the child who loved dinosaurs...

It's too easy to get into a statistics mindset and focus on numbers and forget each number represents an individual irreplaceable life. This pushes back against that hard. I cried when I first saw it, and it felt right and correct that I did.

[Evolve Dammit]

52. Very important post. Thank you.

[Nevilledog]

63. ...

[Lochloosa]

58. FUCK FUCK FUCK DAMMIT TO HELL FUCK

[usonian]

60. To honor the beautiful, brief lives of these kids and their teachers, today's flower.

[colorado_ufo]

61. Sainted man, to take on this

Most difficult task