People in the city of Allen are pausing this afternoon to honor the three children and five adults that were killed in the mass shooting, one year ago on this day, May 6. In those moments of chaos, fear, and pain, the community has come together to bring peace.
For more than 50 years, Allen Flower Shop has created arrangements for all occasions.
“We've been here in Allen for a long time,” Ginger Collier said. Collier along with her father run the shop. “This is our town, and we love it.”
While the local family-owned flower shop is no stranger to sympathy and funeral flowers, perhaps none have been as painful as the arrangements made a year ago.
"Wow. It's already been a year," Collier said. "It kind of brings you back to how life can change so quickly in a moment."
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Collier was at a banquet when she first started seeing posts about a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets.
“Evil came in that day and changed how we look at certain places now in town,” Collier said.
The open spaces inside Allen Flower Shop were filled with wreaths.
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“A lot of people were just, grabbing a ton of flowers and laying them down in the memorial,” Collier said. “We see flowers as hope.”
Since then, Collier has continued to use her art to bring healing and hope.
"Once (the outlet mall) reopened, we shared a little bit more, and took some flowers over there to those that had to reopen their business and continue on," Collier said. "Just to spread a little bit of joy and cheer, because flowers can be cheery, you know. They can brighten."
Collier was asked by the city of Allen to help once again create joy through flowers.
"We're preparing flowers for the memorial service today, and I was tasked to make an arrangement for each, person that lost their life that day," Collier said.
Every bloom, color, height, and vase was specifically chosen for the person memorialized.
Two sisters, Daniela Mendoza, 11, and Sofia Mendoza, 8, were killed in the Allen Premium Outlets mass shooting.
“Little girls love pink. So, I did all shades of pink,” Collier said.
Aishwarya Thatikonda, 26, from India, was out shopping for her upcoming birthday on Saturday when she was killed. She was working as an engineer.
"The young lady from India, I did tropical. For me, I just think tropical," Collier said.
Collier designed a tall arrangement for the Venezuelan immigrant, Elio Cumana-Rivas.
"I did blue and red and yellow (flowers), the colors of the flag," Collier said.
When designing the arrangement for security guard Christian LaCour, Collier thought of the bravery he displayed moments before his death.
"He saved a lot of people. And he lost his life as a security officer," Collier said. "So, I wanted to just get lots of color and masculine colors for him."
In between two other tall vases that represent adults, is a petite arrangement of white flowers with a touch of blue.
"For the Cho family I did white for the dad," Collier said. For her, the color white is representative of strength. "And I did, pink and white for the mom, and then blue and white for the little boy."
Cindy and Kyu Cho were at the outdoor mall with their sons 6-year-old William and 3-year-old James. The family's only survivor was William.
All flowers were delivered to the city’s remembrance event on Monday evening.
The community program which took place at 6:30 p.m. at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center is free and open to the public
Allen Flower Shop hopes the flowers will bring the families of the victims and the community in attendance hope.
“I just want them to feel hope. I know it's hard to feel that when you've lost family members,” Collier said. “I just want them to have a little bit of hope and a little bit of love.”
