On Saturday, September 11th in the RV area at Trader’s Village a 9-year-old boy was struck by a car and killed. The mother of that child reached out to Grand Prairie News this week. I could hear the pain in her voice. I listened to her as she shared her son’s final minutes with him and the words that she and her husband shared with her son before he was taken for a CT scan. Sadly, he never made it to that CT scan. He passed away on the way to that CT scan. As a father of a 9-year-old myself, I can tell you it was hard to hear this mother share her story.
The mother shared with me something that I think many of you can relate to. She wanted her son to be remembered as more than just a “9-year-old boy killed in Grand Prairie car crash”. She sent me several news articles and they all had very similar titles. Not a single story shared her son’s name or his story. I couldn’t imagine being in her family’s situation.
I wanted to know more about her son and asked her to share what she felt comfortable sharing and she obliged. Please allow me to introduce you to Nicolas “Nico” Escalante, who was more than just a 9-year old killed in Grand Prairie. He was so much more.
His family sent us the following. Please help this family share Nico’s story so the world will know his name and his story.
“Nicolas was a pure soul full of life. He would light up every room he would walk into. Always making our days brighter with his sweet smile and those adorable dimples he had. He was so charismatic and had a charm to him no one can really explain. Even standing over 4ft tall at nine years old he still had such innocence in him often being confused as the oldest of the two sons we had. He often found that amusing, always teasing his brother about it. When in reality he was still a child, my baby. He loved his teddy’s dearly often collecting them from all the different places we would travel to. He never went to bed without one, sometimes we would look at him and realize-although he may look older, his heart was still that of a young child. He would run every night to me and give me “shmuggles” as he would call them, referring to snuggles. Boy, how we will miss those. He had a thirst for life, often trying new things. Once he set his mind to something there was no stopping him. Weekends were his favorite, he knew how to ride a bike, became an expert at rollerblading, was a pro at skateboarding, and loved the water-he was such a great swimmer at such a young age. He never feared trying new foods, his favorite being sushi. But he had one special talent, one he was very proud of. He was an artist and had a vision none of us had. He was so talented and gifted, not only will he sketch out outfits that one day he would dream of creating, he would design buildings, he would create new rollercoaster rides, his imagination was just endless and the talent he had to put his vision on paper would always blow us away. We look now, through all the artwork he left behind and we’re in awe of how gifted he really was. His dream was always to be a fashion designer or an architect-anything he can draw about, he would. We would like the world to remember him for his talent, for who he truly was, and how amazing he could’ve been. We always knew he was special and one day he was going to be something big. Never did we imagine we would have such a short time with our boy. As we go through every inch of our home collecting every piece of paper he ever sketched on, we realize he left us so many memories behind. His art collection is immense and although it brings us tears to think he’s gone, those same pieces of art he left for us bring us joy and some sense of peace, knowing he lived every day to the fullest, and every day we allowed him to be him-spectacular, artistic, and sassy of course. Before he left us, we told our boy “draw everything buddy because one day we’ll see you again and we want you to show us everything.” His memorial will be the art show he always dreamed of, with visitation being open to the public. We know he must be smiling ear to ear and shining brighter than ever knowing his pieces will be up for display for the world to see. Thank you for keeping our boys light shinning with every prayer that has been sent our way. Forever and always we will have Nicolas in our hearts.”
The Escalante Family.
Here is some of Nico’s Artwork below. (Please Click To Enlarge Photos)
You are invited to Nicolas Escalante’s Art Gallery and Celebration
“The Escalante family would like to extend an invitation to our sweet son’s memorial, which will be held at Grand Prairie Funeral Home. We would like to keep the mass service for the immediate family only-the public is welcome for visitation and those hours will be 12-4 pm. Nicos Art Gallery and all his accomplishments will be up for display during this time. We ask for attire to be white, our son was such a bright soul who lit up every room he walked into, he wouldn’t like to see anyone in black. It’s a celebration of his life and what he has given us in his short nine years of life. We thank every single person who has supported us, reached out to us, and kept us in your prayers. We wish we can thank every single one of you-we take comfort in knowing Nicolas must be smiling and shining brighter than ever knowing he’s going to have the art show he always dreamed of. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
October 2, 2021
12 PM – 4 PM
Grand Prairie Funeral Home
733 Dalworth street, Grand Prairie, Texas 75050
The family is $2,577 away from reaching their goal to raise money for funeral expenses.
You can donate here https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-remembrance-of-our-beloved-nico
