Just outside Vincente and Cristina Andrango’s quaint Argyle home is a homemade prayer box. The dirt surrounding the post is still fresh, and the words “prayer box” look like they were handwritten on the front with a thick, light-blue marker. But it stands firm with barely a wobble as neighbors, first responders, and random passersby gently lift the lid and slip their silent requests inside.
“We sit together as a family every morning in our dining room to read each request,” Cristina said. “We pray for every single one.”
The Andrango family’s morning ritual is quickly making the rounds and has helped them fit right in with an Argyle community known for being tightly knit and willing to drop everything to rally around one of its own. Vincente and Cristina, along with their children, Eliseo (6) and Emma (10), and Christina’s daughter, Samara (19), felt that positivity and welcoming spirit from the second they moved here two years ago, and they are doing all they can to return the favor. But neighbors can’t help but feel more inspired than ever by the family’s selfless acts when it’s actually the Andrangos who have needed people to pray for them.
In December 2022, Eliseo fell on the school playground and hit his head. The injury caused a life-threatening brain bleed and swelling that sparked a seven-month ordeal punctuated by Eliseo undergoing brain surgery on June 30.
The good news is that even with a scar from ear to ear, missing hair, and the need for continuing outpatient therapy, Eliseo is his old self again and never once stopped smiling through it all. The same can be said for his parents and Emma, who were so blown away by the outpouring of support and prayers from those around them that they built the prayer box to pay it forward.
“It was the scare of our life. He was in the hospital for two months, and I remember doctors telling us that had Eliseo fallen asleep that first night, he wouldn’t have woken back up,” Cristina said as she choked back tears. “The community came together quickly, touching our hearts profoundly through prayers and get-well cards. His classmates even sent balloons for his birthday. We’d never experienced anything like that before. Vincente even said to me, ‘This city is so special.’”
She added, “The outpouring of love is huge in Argyle. I still can’t believe so many people went out of their way. I didn’t know how to pay it forward at first. But we are a family of faith, and the Lord touched our hearts. That’s when we decided on the prayer box.”
Vincente and Cristina have been married for 12 years. They dated for only 11 days before Vincente proposed, and they got married on the 14th day. They were living in the Carrollton area and quickly started their family with Emma and Eliseo. But it wasn’t until they moved to Argyle that they truly felt like they found their forever home, so much so that Vincente didn’t bat an eye about moving his established HVAC company and starting in a new area from scratch.
As a stay-at-home mom, Cristina took care of the kids and became the back-office guru for Vincente’s company. Meanwhile, they did what many families do: They continued going to church, got to know their neighbors, and settled down for a quiet life.
Everything was perfect — that is, until Eliseo’s injury.
“It happened on a Thursday, and I remember him saying, ‘Mom, I fell today.’ But we really didn’t think much of it at the time,” Cristina said. “The next day, he said his leg was hurting. We iced it and eventually had X-rays done at the emergency room — but they said his leg was fine. A couple of hours later, we were about to go to bed and heard this loud scream. Our dog had this panicked bark that wouldn’t stop, and as soon as we walked into Eliseo’s room, we found him having a seizure on the floor. He was awake and alert, but he was convulsing.”
Without hesitating, Vincente grabbed his son and rushed him to the hospital.
Eliseo remained in the hospital for two months, including seven days in the ICU. Doctors could have operated immediately but were concerned about swelling that simply wasn’t subsiding as quickly as they had hoped. Once surgery day came, there was a slight complication with an air bubble on Eliseo’s brain. But it ultimately became a non-issue.
In fact, Eliseo came out of the surgery as good as new.
“He’s always been a very caring and loving boy,” Cristina said. “He loves golf, baseball, crafts, and going to church. He also loves praying for people — if someone needs a hug, he loves giving them one. There were times after his accident when I wanted to cry, but he was always so positive. His positivity blew us all away. He genuinely believed everything was going to be fine.”
It didn’t hurt that Eliseo had plenty of people in his corner cheering him on. His eyes lit up when friends and family sent him get-well cards and classmates went out of their way to send him balloons as he spent his birthday on July 7 recovering in the hospital.
“You felt the love right away,” Cristina said. “It made him so happy.”
Fast forward to today, and Eliseo is doing tremendous and excels in outpatient therapy twice a week. He and Emma are also back in school at Argyle South, with Eliseo starting first grade.
He’ll happily accept your prayers for a full recovery. But don’t be surprised if he and his family aren’t already praying for you.
“Argyle is a small community with loving and caring people,” Cristina said. “You can’t help but pray for those around you.”
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