SNYDER, Texas (KCBD) – A mural 40 miles away in Post became a landmark for one Snyder family during dozens of trips to and from cancer treatment in Lubbock.
Now, that same inspiration has given Snyder a public plaza — and one wall holds a hidden tribute to a little girl who did not survive.
Robbi Tindol said her granddaughter Lyla was diagnosed with adrenal cortical carcinoma at 19 months old.
“It was adrenal cortical carcinoma,” Tindol said. “And like only two kids in the whole United States had this cancer.”
Tindol said the family made frequent trips between Snyder and Lubbock for treatment. On those drives, a mural on a wall in Post became a marker of progress.
“We spent a lot of time back and forth to Lubbock,” she said. “And you know, that just meant we were almost home.”
Surgeons were able to remove the cancer, and Lyla continued to thrive during and after chemotherapy. But the cancer returned.
“It was just too much for her little body and it came back and it was very, very aggressive,” Tindol said. “And she passed away in April of 2024.”
Tindol, an active member of the Snyder Chamber of Commerce, contacted the artist behind the Post mural. With support from the city and the chamber, demolition began on a wall next to Tindol Insurance to make way for a new mural.
“In these small towns, you know, if we don’t continue our civic pride, and if we don’t give our kids something to be proud of, they move off,” she said.
The design drew from Lyla’s interests and the local landscape.
“My granddaughter loved butterflies and sunflowers, and the cactus is just Snyder, and the horny toad,” Tindol said. “And it all just kind of revolved around that.”
The first mural prompted additional work across the lot near the Southern Root Boutique, where a western-themed mural was added. Demolition also uncovered unexpected finds: a Coca-Cola sign from the 1930s, a Couch and Paxton sign predating it, and eventually a mural recognizing actor Powers Booth, who was raised in Snyder.
What had been a gravel lot for decades is now the Lone Star Plaza, featuring five murals intended to draw travelers off the road and into town.
On one of the mural’s leaves, a ladybug sits above a small gold inscription.
“There’s a ladybug on one of the leaves and just under it in gold, you have to get really close to know it’s there,” Tindol said. “It says Lyla.”
Tindol said the detail reflects a fear shared by many families who lose young children.
“That’s one of the things you worry about when they’re so little, is you don’t want them to be forgotten,” she said. “And even if they don’t know that it’s Lyla’s wall, I do.”
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