Dr. Seuss once famously said , “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”
Due to the nine tornados that thrashed through north Texas on Saturday, one devastated man in Garland, Texas, is learning the meaning of this statement in the most heartbreaking way.
Ruben Porras, 30, surprised his wife of over ten years, Petra Ruiz, 27, with a special hair appointment for Christmas. Ruiz was driving home from the salon on Dec. 26, when she called her husband using FaceTime, placed her phone in her car’s cup holder and asked Porras about dinner, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“And all of sudden she just started screaming,” Porras told CBS. “Then the image just became black.”
A tornado passed over her SUV as she called Porras a second time, this time, all he heard were screams.
Porras used his Find My Friends app, pinned down Ruiz’s location and rushed to Interstate 30. Once he arrived, police had blocked the road. Porras broke through police tape and searched until he found his wife’s car and crawled inside.
“I grabbed her hand I said Petra wake up. Her hand was cold,” Porras told CBS. “I tried to check her pulse, and nothing. It seemed like she died instantly."
Devastated, came home and told the couple’s four children -- Jasmine, 9, Michael, 7, Angela, 6, and Camila, 2 -- the horrible news.
“I said ‘Mommy was in a terrible accident, and she’s left us.” Porras told CBS. “But she will be watching over us.’”
According to The Dallas Morning News, the couple met on AOL Chat when Ruiz was 15 and went by the handle “imatxhoney214.” She loved red roses, was bossy, liked playing chess and was the second-oldest child in a big family. In fact, about 20 of her family members accompanied her on her first date with Porras.
Along with the hair appointment, Porras also showered his wife with gifts like a Michael Kors bag, Versace perfume and a Bluetooth headset for Christmas.
“But she spoiled me, and I spoiled her back,” Ruiz told The Dallas Morning News.
Ruiz also got a special Christmas gift from the oldest of her four children, Jasmine, who made her mom a coupon book.
“She didn’t even get a chance to use it,” she told Fox4, her eyes filled with tears.
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