After Uvalde, a Cemetery Anchors Families of Victims
Photographs and Text by Tamir Kalifa
After Uvalde, a Cemetery Anchors Families of Victims
Photographs and Text by Tamir Kalifa
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Alexandria Rubio’s mother and sister approached her grave one morning, the dark ink still fresh on their skin.
“My Lexi-roo, we got a tattoo for you!” Kalisa Barboza, 18, shouted, facing the headstone. They were visiting the cemetery, as the family has done nearly every day in the year since their 10-year-old daughter, known as Lexi, was killed along with 18 other students and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.
Ms. Barboza and her mother, Kimberly Rubio, raised their upper arms. “Destination Lexi,” the matching tattoos said in elegant cursive, a reminder of the women’s belief that their family will eventually be reunited.
![Three children run across a grassy cemetery. The headstones in the background are decorated with flowers.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/-00uvalde-photo-INTRO/-00uvalde-photo-INTRO-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
The families of the 21 people who were killed have spent the last year working their way through a wilderness of grief, anger, despair, frustration and confusion — searching, if not for peace, then at least purpose.
The cemetery, where most of the victims are buried, has become an anchor for many of the families, as has the bond forged among them. The families decorate the graves and meticulously maintain the area surrounding the headstones; and together, they gather at the cemetery to celebrate birthdays and holidays.
![Felix Rubio places his hand on his daughter's headstone. It's dark and there are pink and blue lights illuminating the grave.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/23/multimedia/00uvalde-photos-intro2-qbtf/00uvalde-photos-intro2-qbtf-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
Mass shootings have continued to occur across the country since the Uvalde massacre, and the process of recovery in the months since has been slow, moving season by season.
“Time doesn’t heal,” said Ana Rodriguez, whose daughter Maite was among the dead. “It shows us how to learn to live with the pain.”
![A person walks past a building painted with a large mural showing children's faces and names.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--05/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--05-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
Summer of Outrage
In the wake of the tragedy, most of the families were drawn to the cemetery. In early June, mounds of dirt rose above the fresh graves of nearly a dozen 9-and-10 year-olds in the northern section, a constellation of anguish. Half of the victims were buried there. The others occupied places beside relatives elsewhere in the cemetery. A few were cremated.
![Gloria and Jacinto Cazares kneel next to a child's bed covered with a blanket that shows the image and name of a young girl in a formal dress. On the blanket is a mobile phone that they are watching.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/24/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1-03/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1-03-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Ana Rodriguez, wearing a gray sweatshirt and seated at a table indoors with papers in front of her, covers her eyes with her hands.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--04/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--04-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
In Uvalde, the small, mainly blue-collar and mainly Latino town not far from San Antonio, people run into each other at school activities and the town’s only supermarket. Now, these families are also connected through grief and, for many, a new sense of purpose: They want accountability for the well documented law enforcement failures of May 24, 2022, and changes in law that they hope will prevent other families from experiencing the same fate.
![The hand of Javier Cazares reaches down to touch a framed photo showing a girl in formal dress that is attached to a wooden cross laying on the brown dirt of a cemetery. Flower bouquets and some colorfully painted rocks are next to the cross.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--02/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--02-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![School board members in business clothes sit in a row at a large meeting desk, with flags of the United States and the state of Texas behind them, before an audience of adults seated in chairs.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![A group of people outdoors at night hold posters with pictures and names of family members on them. Their mouths are open to speak loudly.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--06/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--06-mobileMasterAt3x-v6.jpg)
They packed school board and city meetings and held rallies, many relatives calling for stricter gun laws. Like the cemetery, the halls of power in Austin and Washington, D.C. became familiar places.
“I feel like her chapter closed and mine opened,” Ms. Rubio said of her daughter. “I feel this responsibility to her to share her story and to make change for her.”
![A group of adults and children in casual clothing stand in dim light outdoors in a circle, holding hands in prayer.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/24/us/-00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1-07/-00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1-07-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Kimberly Rubio, in a gray sweatshirt and dark shorts, kneels on the floor of a child's bedroom to put a sneaker on the foot of a small boy in a white T-shirt and dark shorts who is sitting on the bed.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--09/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--09-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![A school bus on a quiet neighborhood street next to trees, some with brightly colored flowers.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/19/us/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--08/00UVALDE-PHOTO-PART1--08-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
Early on, the families began supporting one another and managing the logistics of their interwoven lives using a private message group they called “21 Angels.”
The evening before the first day of school in September, some of the parents expressed their anxiety and dread to the group. “Anyone up for a quick visit to the plaza?” Gloria Cazares, whose daughter Jacklyn, known as Jackie, was killed, wrote in response.
A little over an hour later, nine sets of parents formed a circle near the crosses still standing in the town plaza. They held hands and prayed.
![In the foreground, hands hold a cell phone with an image of a young girl on the screen, near some drinking glasses on a table where adults are sitting in the background.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2/00uvalde-photo-part2-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
A New Purpose
By November, the swollen dirt above the graves had settled, and lush grass was starting to take hold. Nearly all the families gathered at the cemetery to observe Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, a traditional Mexican holiday when people commune with loved ones who have died. They set up ofrendas, and took turns visiting altars for the children and teachers.
![Two adults in casual clothes walk through a big box store, pushing a shopping cart. Both are holding large balloons, including one that looks like a sunflower and another showing the number 11 in gold.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-10/00uvalde-photo-part2-10-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Ana Rodriguez pulls her long hair to the left side of her neck, showing dark letters behind her right ear that spell](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-09/00uvalde-photo-part2-09-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Kimberly and Felix Rubio and their children release balloons next to Lexi’s grave, which is also covered in balloons.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/23/us/00uvaldephoto-print/00uvaldephoto-print-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
“I like to think that we’re not bonded by just the tragedy, but by shared memories of our children,” Ms. Rubio said. “It’s almost like this puzzle that none of us have access to unless we’re together.”
![Gloria Cazares holds her hand up to her mouth and leans close to whisper into Kimberly Rubio's ear while outside. Rubio is smiling. Both have long dark hair and wear black T-shirts.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-12/00uvalde-photo-part2-12-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
![A group of adults carry an altar decorated with marigold flowers and pictures of children. Others carry more marigolds and posters. Behind them is the rose-colored dome of the Texas state capitol building.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-13/00uvalde-photo-part2-13-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
The day before, a group from Uvalde traveled to Austin, where they carried a Day of the Dead altar from the State Capitol to the Governor’s Mansion nearby. They were demonstrating in favor of tighter gun regulations, including raising the minimum age to buy an assault rifle to 21 from 18. The gunman, who was 18, legally purchased the assault rifle used in the shooting.
![Several adults sit in a cemetery outdoors at night next to a grave that has been decorated with flowers, colorful lights and small sugar skull masks. One of the people has her hand up to her face.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-14/00uvalde-photo-part2-14-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![Several adults reach toward each other, touching hands together in a gesture of solidarity.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-03/00uvalde-photo-part2-03-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
Back home, the pain of experiencing the first of many cycles of milestones without their lost family members was unrelenting.
![Veronica Mata, wearing a T-shirt that bears a picture of a girl in a white formal dress, smiles and stands in the aisle of a commercial bus while talking with seated adult passengers, some wearing matching blue T-shirts.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-08/00uvalde-photo-part2-08-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![Adults, several in matching gray T-shirts, sit at a table seen through an office window. Reflected in the glass is another office building.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-02/00uvalde-photo-part2-02-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![Brett Cross, in jeans and a T-shirt, reclines on a cot while looking at a cell phone outdoors at night in the lit doorway of a brick building next to parking spaces.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-07/00uvalde-photo-part2-07-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
At 6 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, Ms. Cazares and her husband, Javier, were the first to arrive at a Uvalde banquet hall for “Luv Ya Uvalde,” a Thanksgiving lunch that the family holds annually for the community. In the dim light, surrounded by empty tables, the couple held each other, wiping away tears. Each member of the family had a role in organizing the lunch and serving food during the event, which was a favorite of Jackie’s.
![In the foreground, an adult and child, both wearing food service gloves and aprons, each hold one side of a wishbone. In the background a person stands at a steel table in a commercial kitchen as aluminum pans hold food, including cooked turkeys.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-04/00uvalde-photo-part2-04-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![In the foreground, two people hug and one is smiling with eyes shut. Next to them an older child sits at one of several round tables that fill a large room. People are seated around all of the tables.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-05/00uvalde-photo-part2-05-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![Sara Torres, an older child with long brown hair, stands holding a wreath of red flowers in a cemetery. A small child with short hair sits near flowers with his head to his knees as his mother Evadulia Orta leans down to put her hand on his back.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part2-06/00uvalde-photo-part2-06-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
“We're now realizing she was not just a little part of our family,” Ms. Cazares said. “She was probably the biggest part of our family.”
Ms. Cazares got to work to distract herself. Then her older sister approached her and asked, “Who’s in charge of dessert?”
Ms. Cazares paused. “Jackie was.”
![Ana Rodriguez decorates her Christmas tree while wearing a blue sweater and two bracelets that are in memory of her daughter, Maite.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-opner/00uvalde-photo-part3-opner-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
A Quiet Holiday
Xavier Lopez, known as X.J., loved the holiday season. In late November, his family attended his favorite event, Uvalde’s annual Christmas extravaganza.
![Someone dressed as Santa holds a photo of Ellie Garcia in front of bench and decorations while someone takes a photo.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-07/00uvalde-photo-part3-07-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
As his parents, Abel Lopez and Felicha Martinez, and his siblings walked through the elaborate trail of lights and decorations to a soundtrack of a children’s choir, a loud blast pierced the air. An overloaded transformer had burst, cutting the power briefly. Ms. Martinez had a panic attack and collapsed on the grass.
![Felicha Martinez is on the grass crying as two people surround her. A baby looks on from the left.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-02/00uvalde-photo-part3-02-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Uvalde families march outside while it rains in Washington D.C. Most people have umbrellas and they are carrying signs.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-09/00uvalde-photo-part3-09-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
![Javier Cazares cries while at a vigil. He has a pin on his black suit of his daughter.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-10/00uvalde-photo-part3-10-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
“These days are supposed to be happy,” she said later that evening, “but they are just reminders that our lives are torn apart.”
![Faith Mata looks at a flock of birds passing over the cemetery while the sunsets. There are trees in the background.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-11/00uvalde-photo-part3-11-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
![Kim and Felix Rubio shop at the store for Valentine's Day decorations. Almost everything on the shelves are red or pink.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-12/00uvalde-photo-part3-12-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Two girls are behind a bed that has a large printed photo on it. The bedspread is pink with a crown shaped pillow.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/23/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-20/00uvalde-photo-part3-20-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Julian Rubio dribble a basketball while in his uniform. He is next to a staircase where there is a printed photo of Lexi Rubio leaned against it.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-05/00uvalde-photo-part3-05-mobileMasterAt3x-v6.jpg)
Other reminders are more subtle.
Before her death, Tess Mata made a lot of noise at home. When the 10-year-old wasn’t singing along with TikTok videos or talking to her older sister on the phone, she was roller skating around the living room, the pink wheels making a distinct click clack over the tiled floor.
“When Tess was quiet, you worried,” said Veronica Mata, her mother.
![Felix Rubio hangs a photo of his daughter Lexi on the wall while Kimberly directs him. There are two large ceiling fans.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-13/00uvalde-photo-part3-13-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
![Veronica Mata is reaching towards a light in her daughter's room. There are stuffed animals on the bed.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-08/00uvalde-photo-part3-08-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
“It's just the A.C. — that’s how quiet it is,” her father, Jerry Mata, said. “That's our new normal now.”
![Six people from the Uvalde families stand on right as a large group of people, over 30, take a photo on the staircase next to them.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-14/00uvalde-photo-part3-14-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Katalina Mata wears a black shirt with a fadded photo of Xavier Lopez. Someone is pointing at her shirt.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-03/00uvalde-photo-part3-03-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Javier Cazares uses a lawn trimmer to mow the grass at Jackie's grave. There are easter decorations around the grave.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-04/00uvalde-photo-part3-04-mobileMasterAt3x-v5.jpg)
![Javier Cazares stand in front of a birthday cake with lit candles while three people stand behind him. A women is wiping a tear from her face in the background.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part3-06/00uvalde-photo-part3-06-mobileMasterAt3x-v7.jpg)
On Feb. 6, Mr. Mata sat in the back of his white S.U.V., watching relatives and friends trickle into the cemetery to celebrate what would have been Tess’s 11th birthday.
As the sun set, Mr. Mata joined the people gathering around Tess’s grave. Steven Garcia, whose daughter Eliahna Garcia, known as Ellie, was also killed, put his arm around Mr. Mata. “When you feel it, and it’s hitting you, just look around,” Mr. Garcia told him. “These people can be anywhere in the world but they’re right here with you and your beautiful daughter.”
![Faith Mata, wearing a black graduation gown and white shoes, floats in the water with her head just above water. She hands a photo of her sister, Tess, to someone reaching her hand out from the river's edge.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part4-02/00uvalde-photo-part4-02-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
Learning to Swim
Ms. Rodriguez decided to cremate her daughter, Maite, a creative and curious 10-year-old. Maite’s urn sits on an altar surrounded by photos and the shoes she had on when she was killed: Lime green Converse with a heart on the right toe. The shoes became a symbol of the tragedy when the actor Matthew McConaughey displayed a similar pair at a news conference at the White House in June, as he described Maite’s dreams of becoming a marine biologist.
At first, Ms. Rodriguez said her grief was debilitating and she struggled to take care of her two boys. She wondered how she would ever laugh again.
![Ms. Rodriguez stands outside the open door of a black car, wearing a dark flannel shirt. Her face is obscured by a black baseball cap. She is carrying a gold urn that contains her daughter's ashes.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part4-04/00uvalde-photo-part4-04-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
Ms. Rodriguez thought she would keep Maite’s room as it was forever, but recently she decided to give it to her youngest son, Caleb, 12, who had been sharing a room with his older brother.
“She knows what she means to me,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “Caleb needs to know how much he means to me.”
![A bedroom with a yellow-white wall with a small bed with a white headboard that is piled with stuffed animals. A poster and photos are hanging on the wall.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part4-06/00uvalde-photo-part4-06-mobileMasterAt3x-v4.jpg)
![Ms. Rodriguez in a green shirt stands on a ladder in the corner of a room. Her son Caleb, in a black T-shirt uses a roller to paint the wall a light blue. In a dresser mirror, Ms. Rodriguez's other son Darnell can be seen in a blue T-shirt.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part4-05/00uvalde-photo-part4-05-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Caleb and Ana Rodriguez lay on a bed to test it in Ikea.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/23/us/00uvaldephoto-print-1/00uvaldephoto-print-1-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
While the parents have experienced their own unique pain, their other children are learning to live without their siblings.
The weekend before the shooting, Tess told her older sister Faith, who was about to begin her senior year in college, that she wanted to learn how to swim. It is tradition for graduates of Faith’s university, Texas State, to jump into a river on campus on Graduation Day, and Tess wanted to take part.
![In a large crowd in the stands of an arena, Mr. Mata stands holding a large photo of his daughter Tess, pictured in light blue jeans and a black top. He is blowing a kiss outwards over the top of the photo.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part4/00uvalde-photo-part4-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
As Faith walked across the arena floor at her graduation, her parents cheered, alongside Ms. Rodriguez and the Rubio and Cazares families. They talked about how thunderstorms had been forecast for the day, and agreed Tess had kept them at bay.
After the ceremony, they walked to the river, where Faith stood at the edge of the water. Clutching a photo of Tess, she jumped.
![Balloons silhouetted against a clear blue sky. One balloon is a silver pair of ones. The other, slight higher, is a circular ballon.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-05/00uvalde-photo-part5-05-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
Small Victories
In the spring, the Rubios, along with several Uvalde families, returned to Austin to testify before the House Select Committee on Community Safety in favor of the “Raise the Age” bill. They arrived at 7:30 a.m. wearing T-shirts with images of their lost loved ones.
![Mr. Cazares, wearing a black T-shirt, sits at a table on the left. He has a bottle of Budweiser in front of him. To the right of him, his daughter Jazmin, wearing a short green dress and glasses, is pouring confetti from a plastic egg on top of his head. Family members to the right chat, one holding a green Easter basket filled with eggs.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-06/00uvalde-photo-part5-06-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Several small hands reach out. Orange and black butterflies perch in the palms and on the sides of the hands. The name](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/23/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-15/00uvalde-photo-part5-15-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![In a large area with a dirt floor a person in a cowboy hat stares up at a screen, flanked by the United States and Texas flags. On the screen is a photo of Makenna Elrod Seiler.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-07/00uvalde-photo-part5-07-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
After waiting 13 hours, Ms. Rubio was the first to testify.
“Did you think we would go home?” she asked the committee members.
![Caitlyne Gonzales, wearing black pants and a purple long-sleeve shirt, dances in the middle of Jackie's gravesite while holding up her cell phone. The grave is surrounded by a low fence and colorful flowers and decorations.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-09/00uvalde-photo-part5-09-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
A few weeks later, the families crammed into a fluorescent-lit committee room for a vote on the bill. Two Republicans broke with their party, ensuring the bill would pass out of committee. The room erupted in applause and tears.
![Kimberly Garcia, left, and Felicha Martinez, right, sit next to each other. Ms. Martinez's head is resting against Ms. Garcia's shoulder. Ms. Garcia is holding a framed photo of her daughter. Text running along the left and top of the frame says](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-04/00uvalde-photo-part5-04-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
![Angel Garza, Amerie Jo Garza’s stepfather, stands at the end of a balcony in a rotunda. He is leaning his elbows on the railing, with his back facing the frame. The back of his purple T-shirt has a photo of Amerie with angel wings, and the top says](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-03/00uvalde-photo-part5-03-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
![Felix Rubio, left, wearing a white T-shirt, sits next to his wife, Kimberly Rubio, who is in a white shirt and blue zip-up sweater. They are sitting in front of a microphone, which is set up next to a framed photo of their daughter, Lexi.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-08/00uvalde-photo-part5-08-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
In the end, the bill did not reach the floor, because of Republican opposition. Still, the families said they felt they had shown that progress toward gun legislation could be made in Texas.
![Ms. Rubio sits on a sidewalk cross-legged, in a pink T-shirt and sandals, wiping her eyes. She is in front of a small white cross, surrounded by other white crosses, decorated with sunflowers and rosaries.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5/00uvalde-photo-part5-mobileMasterAt3x-v3.jpg)
![Ms. Rubio, small in the bottom center of the frame, wearing shorts and a pink T-shirt, walking away down a wide street. The sun is nearly set, and a rainbow is seen in the background coming out of the horizon.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/22/us/00uvalde-photo-part5-02/00uvalde-photo-part5-02-mobileMasterAt3x-v2.jpg)
Ms. Rubio and her husband, Felix, drove straight to Uvalde, arriving at the cemetery just after sundown. All Ms. Rubio wanted to do, she said, was lie on top of Lexi’s grave. The ground in front of the headstone was wet from the sprinkler, but she lay down anyway, letting the cool water soak into her yellow shirt that read “Lexi’s mom.”
“We did it,” she whispered. “You did it.”
Produced by Gray Beltran, Heather Casey, Jenni Lee, Meghan Louttit and Ege Uz.