SAN ANTONIO — One week from Friday marks two years since the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
Before that somber anniversary, a permanent memorial is nearly complete for the 19 students and 2 teachers who were killed.
However, the memorial is not in Uvalde. It's more than 200 miles away in Riviera, Texas.
The small town is about 15 miles south of Kingsville off Highway 77.
KENS 5 learned about the memorial from a teacher at Robb Elementary. A Facebook post sharing its near-completion has already been seen by many in the Uvalde community -- including family members of the victims.
Lupe Aguilar, Pastor of Community Baptist Church in Riviera, decided to build the memorial wall outside the church.
We asked what connection he has to Uvalde. He says there's really no ties. He's never traveled there. The only person he knows is a Baptist minister.
"It can happen in any community," Aguilar explained. "In my mind, in my heart, I had a feeling something needed to be done. Something needed to be built for the children, in memory of the children in Uvalde and their parents."
Community Baptist Church is located off Highway 77, that runs through The Valley to the Texas-Mexico border.
"There's 100,000 trucks and vehicles that go through that road every day and every night," said Aguilar.
A friend of Aguilar's owns a sign shop in Kingsville. With their help, his vision for the memorial came to life.
Volunteers from Coastal Bend Fellowship in Kingsville helped put up the slab and cinder blocks for the wall. Just days ago, they installed the memorial sign.
We prayed about it and we felt that the Lord just wanted us to let them know that we're praying for them and they will not be forgotten," said Aguilar's wife, Gilda Guerra Aguilar.
Church funds helped build the memorial wall, and they're not finished yet. Lights are on the way, along with a flower bed. A church member volunteered to maintain the garden.
"Once people see [the memorial wall], they remember," said Gilda. "They remember them and they will not forget. They will take it with them wherever they go."
This year, the Aguilars are planning their first trip to Uvalde.
While there's no official memorial in Uvalde yet, a new elementary school being built to replace Robb will feature multiple design elements to memorialize the victims.
"We do have a large oak tree that will be installed. The two main branches of that tree represent the two teachers and the 19 smaller branches represent the children," said Tim Miller, Executive Director of the UCISD Moving Forward Foundation. "21 bumble bees, 21 rays of light. There will be 21 images throughout the building."
While a name for the new elementary school hasn't officially been announced, there is talk that Garcia & Mireles Elementary could be a contender. Those are the names of the two teachers who died protecting their students.
As we wrapped up our interview with the Aguilars, Pastor Lupe offered a timely scripture: Psalm 116:15.
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Godly ones," he recited. "What He means is we all mourn when somebody dies, but it hurts God more to see us mourning. It also brings Him joy to know that one of his Godly ones is now in eternal peace. The end is just the beginning. There's always life beyond this."