CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — "Be Louish."
It's a phrase we have used a few times on 3News to remember and honor former resident and beloved Luis Adan Gonzalez, or "Lou."
He lost his battle to Leukemia over two years ago. On Monday, he would've been 25.
Lou's mother, Cindie De Leon, said for the last two years when Lou's birthday comes around, she chooses to give back to the kids who have a view of what Lou once experienced when he was diagnosed; but unlike in years past, with 2020 came a pandemic to consider. Still, Cindie stepped in to fulfill her goal.
"This year they were like, 'You can't come in. You can't meet the patients,' and I was like, 'What can we do?'," De Leon said. "And pretty much they said, 'You can bring them, you can drop them off, and we will distribute them,' and I was like, 'That's perfect. We'll go ahead and do it.'"
De Leon donated 41 pajama sets to kids who have to spend their holidays in a hospital. She chose pajamas because she remembered one of her favorite Christmas memories of when Lou was still here.
"Every year for Christmas Eve he got to open one gift, and every year that gift was of course pajamas," De Leon said.
She said she knew what it's like to spend the most precious time of the year behind a hospital window with a child who's sick.
"Two Christmases went by, two Thanksgivings went by, and two of Lou's birthdays went by," she said.
Back then, for De Leon it was the little things that made Lou's day, and when he was happy, she was happy. This time around, even though he's not here, she hopes to bring that same happiness to other kids that might need it a little extra this holiday season.
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