Gilberto Escamilla, Jr.

Love you Cousin Gibby
Thinking of you & Aunt Dolly and my mom today <3 <3 <3

My dear cousin, I will always cherish my summers spent with you running around grandpas farm and getting into all sorts of shenanigans whether at your mom´s house or at the beach. It was truly memorable because you were so special to me. You really knew how to laugh and enjoy yourself and your smile was just so contagious. I remember we would spend the day running around outside or playing video games or going to the local movies to see Indiana Jones and the temple of doom. We spend the nights eating pizza and staying up late watching American Ninja or some other kung fu or martial arts flick (imagine that!) I remember your mom would give you pancakes in the morning and you would drown those bad boys in syrup! I remember one summer when y´all came to San Antonio we got to all go to Sea Workd together and it was the best time I ever had there. You were truly one of a kind! At that time you were more than a cousin to me, ... more like the brother I never had. I will miss you always but I have peace knowing you are with your mom who loved you so much and left you too early. Bye Gibby, your Cousin Chris

Gil Thank you for being my best friend and best man. I will miss you

My dear brother, I will miss you for the rest of my life. I still can't believe this is real. You were always there for me, you listened, cared, and loved like no one else. You taught me so much, gave the best advice, and always were my safe place. I always had the best time when we were together. I never laughed as hard as I did when we were together. We just got each other, had the exact same sense of humor. Forget it when it was you, Sandra, and I in a room. Even worse if it was the four of us, you mom, Sandra, and I. We were unstoppable. We could laugh for hours at nothing, at everything. When we all grew our own little families all those great moments just became even more rich. Life will not be the same without you in it and it's devastating but I'm grateful that we were close and had so many unforgettable moments over the years. You left me with a huge hole in my heart but so many memories, and you'll live on in those. I have such few photos of us, I guess we got that from mom, dodging cameras, but I think it just speaks to our bond because when we were together we were too busy living in the moment, laughing, having fun, and catching up, leaving no time for phones. You were my big brother. You were supposed to get wrinkly, older, and gray-er before me. We were supposed to hang out in our eighties with our walkers. It wasn't supposed to end this way and I'm heartbroken. To Rachel, Katie, and Coop I love you guys and I will always be there for you. We'll get through this together as a family because love can heal just about anything and we have a lot of that give. Thank you for making his life so rich and loving him like you did. He just loved you so much. In life, you were his angels, and now he'll be yours. Here are a few of our moments I did capture that I'll never forget. They were great days.

More memories

Memories

More moments

Gil was the most interesting and intelligent person I ever had a conversation with.

In loving memory of a wonderful person,or to me most importantly dad.We will love you and miss you always.
Rest in peace
Dad

My dad was always a funny,smart guy
He always was there for me,he showed me how look at things,he would always make me laugh,he quit his grad school since job that was in dc just to see me,he worked to get his economics PhD just to quit to see me.
You will be missed dad

I knew I could marry him when we flew 27 hours to Singapore together and got along despite the complete sleep deprivation.

When we would both travel, he would tell me he made it home safe but sending me a picture of the dog happily sitting next to him on the couch

Gil was a delight. There are few people in this world who can meet a stranger, find common ground immediately, and then remember you the next time you meet. I am so happy for every evening out he joined Rachel and her friends for chats in NYC, and every hilarious story he shared, about travel, about books, and about roombas gone horribly wrong.

It´s really beautifully written. He was a great man. I will never forget how Gil drove with Rachel up from San Antonio the day I gave birth to my son just to see us in the hospital the same day. It was such a special memory, especially because Kate was there too because they also told us they were pregnant that day. Gil will be greatly missed. May his memory be a blessing. I´m sure he is protecting you guys as well.

Rachel and Kate, sending love and prayers from Nashville.

He was my dad