Remembering Sergio

Sergio Romero was, by all accounts, a great kid. Smart, funny, well-rounded — all of the things that one expects to hear about a young person when they’re taken from us early. But, at Holy Cross Catholic Church on Saturday, October 15, there was even more to know about the 15-year-old musician and San Marcos High School student than what was spoken during the moving ceremony.

“Sergio had all his ducks in a row,” said Harry Earle after the service, describing the 15-year-old who was hit by a truck and killed on October 7. “There is a balance wheel in life: family, work, music, play….Sergio had it all balanced. He was on his way.” Earle got to know Sergio well over the past few months as director of JAMS music school, which was where Sergio was leaving when he died.

According to all accounts, Sergio was an earnest, young man full of passion. That passion was on display Saturday morning, in photos and the community fostered by his life and passing. The sanctuary was filled with people from a wide range of social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds, all brought together to share and mourn the loss of a young man who was courageous enough to pursue his dreams.

It’s tough to say a whole lot more than that about the service. Frankly, it’s tough to say anything about any memorial service outside of what’s expected. And usually, that feels like enough — acknowledge the tragedy as just that, a tragedy, and then move forward. But for whatever reason, that doesn’t seem adequate this time.

The way that Sergio lived and the way that he died is particularly hard to swallow because he was doing things right. Sergio loved music, so he worked at it. He allowed his passion to dictate how he spent his time, who he spent his time with, and he was happy doing it. He was working hard at doing the things that he actually wanted to do, becoming the person that he wanted to be. And that’s more than a lot of us can say.