An emotional journey from Elyria, Ohio to Uvalde leaves woman forever changed

  LeighAnn Davies-Arroyo planned her trip from Elyria, Ohio with her mother to fly back to Corpus Christi, Texas where she grew up.  Elyria is located just outside of Cleveland and serves as a bedroom community stated Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield.

“My mom and I flew to Corpus Christi  where I was born. She rented a car and drove to Robb Elementary,” Arroyo said.

 “It started out as a mom and daughter vacation that turned to showing thoughts and prayers at the Robb Elementary School site. 

 I went to the Robb Elementary school site on October 23rd 2022, then went to the Uvalde Town Square to pay respects there as well,” she said.

  LeighAnn Arroyo contacted Mayor Frank Whitfield, and told him she was planning on visiting Uvalde and asked him if he’d like to send a message along  with her to the people of Uvalde.  “I’m a Community Advocate in Elyria, Ohio and the mayor of my city and I put the notes in the envelope,” she said. 

Arroyo contacted the Uvalde Hesperian a few weeks after she returned from her trip and mentioned the notes she left at the Robb Elementary School site. Michael Robinson the editor of the Uvalde Hesperian went out to the site and found the letters wrapped in plastic attached to a bouquet of flowers near a big pink painted rock with “Ohio” painted on it.  Robinson found the items  and took  pictures of them before returning them to the site. 

  She said, “This was definitely a very emotional experience for me. As you know, I was born in Corpus Christi but raised in a very small town called Yorktown in Texas, so this hit very close to home and my heart.

  “As I stood at Robb Elementary, I broke out in a flood of tears. I tried putting myself in those families shoes, the pain I felt was unbearable. We, as a community and nation, need to  step up and do more to protect our future because our future is the youth in this world,” she said.

She also added, “I broke down in tears. I, as a mom of a special needs 5th grader, felt the heaviness that still clings in the air around Uvalde. I saw the three murals. I really couldn’t look at them long without more tears.”

 “While I know and realize that people will do anything to get a gun in our country, something more needs to be done. 19-year-olds don’t need access to assault rifles like the one that was used in this incident.

  We need to hold our law enforcement accountable for their failures as well as praise them for their life saving actions. Not all law enforcement are bad. We need to hold ALL elected officials accountable for missteps but give them kudos on the good they do,” Arroyo said. 

“I’m hearing that Ohio and California are the farthest states to bring mementos to the Robb Elementary site,” she said.

  In looking back on her trip to Uvalde she said, “I’m forever changed because of this.”