Uvalde: Remember the 21 - Sister of shooting victim talks how life has changed
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Saturday marks the three-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.
Hundreds of lives were changed forever in the community.
Jazmine Cazares, who lost her sister to this senseless shooting, talks about how her grieving process has changed over the last three years.
For Cazares, the memory of her sister still lives on through her and her family, but their life was turned upside down on May 24, 2022.
"I think these three years have been so much different for me and my parents. Right at the beginning, I went straight into activism," Cazares said.
RELATED COVERAGE: Remembering the 21: Timeline of deadly mass shooting in Uvalde
Cazares and her entire family are now fighting for gun reform across the state and the country, but recently things have changed.
"Within the last year, I haven't really done anything. I've been working and going to school, so I really haven't been big in activism," Cazares said.
While Cazares' grief is still with her, she says things have transitioned.
"I think our grieving processes, mine and my parents, have shifted a little bit, where they're still very busy, they have time to fight for Jackie, and they're out here doing all these things," Cazares said.
She knows Jackie would want her to follow her dreams.
"I think it took me a really long time to come to terms with that. I'm not out there fighting with my parents, but I also think it's ok, I think I was, also at the time, where I needed to sit down, calm down, take a step away from everything," Cazares said.
But continuing with life was hard.
RELATED COVERAGE: Uvalde - Remember the 21: Mothers turning tragedy into action
"I'm continuing growing up, getting a degree, going to school, working without my sister there, so I think the grieving process is really hitting this year more than it has the past two years," Cazares said.
Cazares is currently going to school and hoping to graduate with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
"I hope that if it would be the other way around, my sister would feel the same way. That it's ok to take time away from this fight because the fight never does end," Cazares said.
While she's taking time for herself, Cazares says she'll jump back into her advocacy work. She hopes to apply what she learned from her degree in psychology to her future job.
Cazares has one thing she wants you to remember.
"I think people forget sometimes that these kids aren't growing up and that there are so many things that these kids are going to miss out on," Cazares said.
That's why it's important to say their names and never forget what happened in Uvalde, Texas three years ago.
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