Community in Edna, Texas rallies around family that lost five children

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From NBC in Edna, Texas (source):

The sounds of spray paint from inside an Edna, Texas, hot-rod garage would lead you to believe another of these rusted car shells are soon headed to a better place.

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But Trey Ganem is painting something else entirely, not hot rods, but personalized caskets. And not just spreading any coat, but one of comfort.

“And we want it to be more of a celebration of that person’s life,” said Ganem, who owns Ganem’s Garage.

Ganem lives in Edna, and when five siblings died earlier this week in a mobile home fire, the grieving parents asked for Ganem’s help. They asked Ganem for a personalized casket for each child.

One for Noah, an Edna High School varsity football player, whose casket is coated in his school colors, along with his name and jersey number.

Another for Nicholas, who liked video games, and whose casket is lined with the popular game “Call of Duty.”

Julian, who loved WWE professional wrestling.

And the two sisters, Areyanah and Lilyana, who loved different characters from their favorite movie, “Frozen.” Their caskets feature each of their names, with princess crowns on top.

Ganem’s work came free of charge. It’s a small favor in a community that has rallied around the family. More than $28,000 has been raised in a GoFundMe account.

People like Peggy Davis, who dropped off a donation at Ganem’s Garage on Friday.

“This community has pulled together like none that I’ve seen for this family,” Ganem said.

On Saturday, the Edna football team defeated Ingram Moore in the UIL state football playoffs 50-28, matching Noah’s jersey number. Before the game, Ingram Moore donated a check for $16,000 that was raised by its community.

Back in Edna, it’s a family—and a town—grieving the most difficult of losses, trying to find any way possible to help.

And find any way possible to help ease the pain of the most difficult goodbyes.