On a hot December afternoon in Tucson’s Mission Manor Park, mariachis in Santa hats drowned out the jingle from an ice cream truck, kids screeching in delight on a playground and a pair of baseball games taking place on nearby diamonds.
The mariachis, Los Diablitos de Sunnyside, were performing for a crowd of about 150 people gathered on folding chairs or standing in clusters before the “En Memoria De” or “In Memory Of” mosaic memorial. The new south side community sculpture honors the lives of loved ones lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Juan Ramos, along with his 6-year-old daughter, was at the unveiling to see two tablets — one for his father and one for his father-in-law — that he helped sculpt. “To have them recognized, we’re fortunate to have something,” Juan said.
“You hear a lot about famous people who die, but us smaller people, there wasn’t much for us,” he said. He pulled his daughter toward him, and she wrapped a hand around his waist. He glanced down at her and then squinted back up into the bright afternoon. “It’s now here for us to come to, to remember them by.”
The memorial was first conceptualized by local artist Alexandra (Alex!) Jimenez, who worked with ceramic artist Paloma Jacqueline. The two reached out to community members beginning last April, inviting them to share their stories about fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents and others lost to COVID. Jimenez and Jacqueline then worked with those people to craft their memories into clay tiles.
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Those tiles — about 150 of them — now form part of a permanent memorial wall at the park. On Sunday, Dec. 10, the community gathered together to listen to the mariachis and to remember and celebrate their lost loved ones.
Some people held framed photos of those they lost. Some sat somberly, others catching up with neighbors. Laughing, joking, and sometimes crying as the mariachis serenaded them. Many people approached the wall — adorned for the day in a giant yellow sash and strewn with flowers — finding their clay creations. Most then reached forward and touched the wall, tracing their loved-ones names or some symbol — such as barber scissors, saguaros, or team logos — that captures their spirit.
One of the mariachi violinists and vocalists sang a song made famous by Tucson native and iconic singer Linda Ronstadt, belting out the words to the fading blue sky: “Quiero morir cantando.” I want to die singing, in English.
“I’m really happy with it,” Jacqueline said. “I’m still working on it,” she added, chuckling at fussing with finishing touches on the memorial just that morning, and planning some final detailing to do yet.
She made a tablet for her dad, Mickey, who is also represented in a relief sculpture on the wall above the tiles.
“It feels like a time capsule. We’re putting something into the world that will last 100 years, or more,” she said, smiling and nodding upwards as the mariachis behind her reached a pitch.
About 1,000 residents of Tucson’s south side have died from COVID, or about a quarter of all COVID deaths in Pima County.
After both Jacqueline and Alexandra gave brief remarks, the sun began to drop behind the nearby pines, and attendees began lighting candles. A member of the Yellow Heart Memorial, a national organization focused on remembering lives lost to COVID, recited a prayer.
As people shielded their candles from the wind, they began, one by one, reciting the names emblazoned on the sculpture.
Alexandra said that she’d never connected more with other people than when she lost her mom, years earlier, to cancer.
“Grief is a uniter,” she said.
Jacqueline echoed that statement, saying of the memorial: “It’s already working. It’s already bringing community together, letting that healing happen.”
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