Pictured L-R: Tommy Pacheco (Brother), Connie Pacheco (Mother), Richard Pacheco, Ruben Conchola (Brother), David Pacheco (Brother)
Photo taken Christmas Eve 2006
Tomas Pacheco's Feelings
I don't even know where to begin. As the oldest of Richard Pacheco's nieces and nephews, I feel like he held a special place for me in his heart. He was an inspiration to me and one of the main reasons I am doing what I am doing today. See, I always looked up to him as a musician and as a small child I can remember the feeling I got seeing my uncle up there on stage. It's amazing what you remember as a small child. I don't think I was older than 2 or 3 and he would bring me onstage to say hi into the microphone. I remember it like yesterday. I was never blessed with the talent that he had. I remember at one point, my parents wanted him to give me saxophone lessons. I never really caught on. Later, he did give me guitar lessons and taught me to play in the traditional Spanish style (with my fingers, not a pick) but my real interest came from my voice doing rap music.
I admit, that when I first heard about his accident, I didn't realize how severe it really was. I knew that he had health problems in the past and somehow, he always managed to pull through. That's why I thought that this time around, was no big deal. He was a strong person and I was certain that he would come through and return to being the same charismatic, free spirited person that he was. It wasn't until I had a conversation with my brother that I realized that this is more serious than I thought.
I eventually went to visit him in the hospital and I think it was at that moment that reality really sunk in. I could be losing my uncle soon. I could barely stand to be in his room seeing him in his current state. I only stayed for a few minutes. I began to reflect on all the memories that I had of him and it brought a smile to my face. I will never forget the countless times that he would call me when he would break his computer and wanted me to fix it. I will never forget when the original napster was being shut down so he called me to come over and help him download lots of illegal music. I was at his house daily for about a week downloading everything from current Tejano, to Gato Barbieri to Nat King Cole singing Adios Marquita Linda. It was alot of fun actually. We would chat about music and life and would usually treat me to dinner. I'll never forget the barbeque place near his house that he would take me to that was out of this world. I will never forget the countless family get togethers at his house. I will never forget the last big party I went to at his house which was Easter, I think, which included singing Karoake. I did my rendition of Young MC's Bust A Move.
Later on, the topic shifted to his big comeback. We spoke about remastering some of his old recordings in order to release a cd. (Unfortunately, we only found one song that was in good enough condition) I sat in on a couple of practices. We would talk about booking at various venues and usually disagreed about the current state of the Tejano market. He proved me wrong, and did perform in front of a few hundred people at Pierson Hall with KC Legends band. It amazed me how many people paid to attend his comeback show. It was awesome.
We talked about taking the show on the road at least to fan fair. Unfortunately, it will not happen, but the memories that he created will live forever. When I posted the sad news about the accident on our message board, the outreach from the public was amazing. Then in his death I still continued to receive even more emails from people who rescheduled their wedding day so that they could book him to play at the reception, others telling me about how they met their spouses at one of his dances, and one from a long lost relative who was happy that we was able to come to the hospital and meet some of his relatives for the first time. It has been said that he was the glue that held the family together and he still managed to do it in his death. I will miss him as well as I know others will too. Sometimes, I can't believe he is gone. Sometimes I wish I would wake up out of this nightmare and things will go back to normal. The one thing that this experience has really taught me is what my broadcast partner, Dan The Man, says all the time...cherish the time that you have with your loved ones because you never know when your day will come. I am confident that he is playing his sax in the Tejano All Star band in heaven and one day, I will be able to hear him play again.