Local officials install crosswalk after pregnant mother of three killed crossing street<\/a><\/p>\nJesse says the children still have nights when grief takes over.<\/p>\n
“They have the little episodes where they cry at night, especially when they want their mom,” he said. “When they get a cut on their foot, when they fall outside … they wish it was Mom here.”<\/p>\n
Jesse is grieving, too.<\/p>\n
Inside the apartment is a shrine honoring the family members he has lost, including his mother, father, brother, Jeanette and the unborn nephew he never had the chance to meet.<\/p>\n
“That’s all the family I have,” Jesse said. “That’s what keeps my spirits going. Keeps the kids’ spirit going.”<\/p>\n
But during the most difficult year of his life, Jesse discovered family can also be found right next door.<\/p>\n
His neighbor, Susan Herrera, began helping Jesse when he was struggling financially.<\/p>\n
Jesse says Herrera paid three months of his rent, more than $2,000, when the family was facing possible eviction. She has also driven Jesse and the children to stores and school because he doesn’t have a vehicle, helped with the kids and simply sat with him when he needed someone to talk to.<\/p>\n
“It gave me an opportunity to stay here,” Jesse said. “I was on the verge of eviction, and she was there to help me.”<\/p>\n
Herrera works as a cook at a South Side convent and credits her Christian faith for compelling her to help the family.<\/p>\n
“It broke my heart,” Herrera said of Jeanette’s death. “He’s left to be the caregiver with no warning, no means, no anything, and he’s done such a great job.”<\/p>\n
Jesse wanted Herrera to know her kindness had not gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n
So he reached out to FOX SA’s Cash for Kindness.<\/p>\n
Herrera believed she was simply stopping by Jesse’s apartment to talk. Instead, she walked inside to find FOX SA waiting.<\/p>\n
“Susan, thank you for always being there for us,” Jesse told her. “This past year has been real tough, really, really tough for me. And you being there for us means the world.”<\/p>\n
Herrera’s response was simple.<\/p>\n
“You know I love you guys.”<\/p>\n
FOX SA then surprised Herrera with a $1,000 Cash for Kindness award, made possible by DJC Law.<\/p>\n
Herrera was stunned.<\/p>\n
“Oh my gosh! I don’t know what to say,” she said. “God is good. God is good. God is good. That’s all I can say.”<\/p>\n
But perhaps the most revealing moment came when Herrera was asked what she planned to do with the money.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to help me help them.”<\/p>\n
Jesse had nominated Herrera because he wanted, for once, to give something back to the woman who had spent the past year giving to his family.<\/p>\n
Instead, even her reward is coming back to them.<\/p>\n
Nearly one year after three children lost their mother and an uncle suddenly became their father, the neighbor who helped keep a roof over their heads is still giving.<\/p>\n
Because sometimes, the family that carries you through your darkest days is the family you find right next door.<\/p>\n
Click here to nomination someone you know for the $1,000 Cash for Kindness prize.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO – Nearly one year ago, Jesse Espitia lost his sister and gained a responsibility he never…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-405143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}