The time stamp on this item shows 8 p.m., and that’s the time in El Paso, Texas, that Fausto Esparza’s family is gathering to pray the rosary tonight

So too are members of his extended family in Guadalajara, Mexico, and across the United States.

Perhaps at 8 p.m. wherever you are, you can join them with a small prayer, a moment of reflection, or a message of support and good will.

Esparza’s family and friends have been gathering daily at 8 p.m. since Esparza was seriously injured in a bad crash last Sunday in the fifth stage of the Tour of the Gila, on a high-speed descent into the Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico.

“We say that family that prays together, stays together,” one of his cousins wrote me in an e-mail. “We have faith that he will come out of this painful situation.”

Esparza, a member of the Tecos-Trek cycling team and a participant last September in the first Tour of Missouri, underwent surgery on Sunday and so far appears to be paralyzed from the mid-section down.

Esparza’s wife, parents and sister have been with him at the hospital, and his wife has posted photos of their three children for him to see. Teammates have visited as well, and all have helped boost his spirits.

If you would like to send a note of encouragement, the address is …

Thomason Hospital
4815 Alameda Ave.
El Paso, TX 79905

Care of patient Fausto Esparza ICU-12

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