Jose Loredo said his mother, Maria De La Luz Loredo, was sweet, persistent, and tried to make the best out of any situation. He said she was the American dream.
“She came as an immigrant, became an American citizen,” Loredo told KPRC 2 reporter Corley Peel. “She fought hard. Most of the time as a single mom. She persevered. My mom was a housekeeper, the people she worked with helped her a lot too.”
In the midst of the rubble, collectibles from Maria’s time as a housekeeper were seen on bedroom shelf, out in the open, after a tree cut through her bedroom on the side of their Northwest Houston home.
The 74-year old’s life was tragically taken during Beryl on Monday.
“The wind gusts was the one thing I noticed that were picking up. As soon as I’m trying to close the door, we hear a bang. And that’s when the tree fell. I opened the room, and it was just daylight. It was like opening the room to go outside. My son, he was awake and the first thing that came out of his mouth when the tree fell was, ‘Abuela! Which is Grandma in Spanish. I could hear the pain in his voice, the concern,” Jose Loredo said.
Jose said his family moved into the home more than two years ago. The spacious home has a long driveway and sits in a cul-de-sac, and it’s the house he always dreamed of.
“There’s a lot of space, my mom had her own room, it was beautiful,” he added.
Loredo was able to collect some of his mother’s mementoes in the damage, but he was adamant he needed to find her cookbook with recipes for her homemade tortillas and his favorite meal.
“I really liked her chicken poblano with homemade tortillas and homemade rice. Fresh queso fresca, it was good,” he said.
While inside the home, Loredo, who is an intermediate school band director, began playing his mother’s favorite song, “Lean on Me.”
“Music is my thing, and she saw me perform at the highest level,” Loredo said.
Over the sound of the piano, his wife announces she found his mother’s cookbook.
“A part of her will live on,” Loredo said. “I know my wife is going to take good care of them and try to make as many of them as possible. My kids, my wife, try to rebuild and start a new chapter with them and cherish mom.”
Jose said they are working to make funeral arrangements for his mother, but it is unclear when she will be laid to rest. They are working to plan something special.