Juanita Romo sits with other members of Blue Caboose during a celebration to remember her children.

Juanita Romo sits with other members of Blue Caboose during a celebration to remember her children.

Sitting with friends at a Mexican restaurant in Lakewood, Juanita Romo thought they were celebrating her recent engagement. But she wasn’t with just any group of friends and they weren’t there to celebrate only her engagement.

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The Woodrow Wilson grad and her friends are a part of Blue Caboose, an organization that provides support to families with children suffering from cystic fibrosis, and while they did want to celebrate her upcoming marriage, there were really two reasons the group had gathered together this past Saturday.

Romo has lost two of her sons to cystic fibrosis—one this past January at the age of 21 and another in 2014 at the age of 12 due to complications during a surgery.

Blue Caboose member and mother of a 19 year old with cystic fibrosis, Julie Saldana, said they wanted to remember the children no longer with their mother and celebrate the time they did have.

“We’re here to honor her two boys,” Saldana said. “Cystic fibrosis is one of those illnesses where our kids can’t play together because they carry different things and they can’t infect each other so the group that we have is for the families, the parents of these kids.”

It was a somber reminder of what this disease can do but the people present had rallied around each other proving there can be hope after tragedy. Since Romo would be moving into a new home, the group presented her with a special gift: a painting by local artist Lilia Estrada, a Woodrow grad and friend of Saldana, that represented her two sons. On each side were the images of two boys painted with angel wings.

And even through her tragic loss, she continues to move forward and act as an inspiration for others.

Romo is active within the Blue Caboose community using her experience to help others and encourage parents with children going through the same disease.

“I see other parents that are going to struggle just like I struggled with my kids and I want to be a part of their lives because I was there with other parents that had lost their kids,” Romo noted. “We do what we can until the end I’m here to help whoever needs the help.”