Tamera Mowry-Housley and husband Adam’s niece Alaina was laid to rest Thursday, one week after she was shot and killed at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California.
The teenager was the youngest victim of the recent mass shooting in the otherwise quiet California suburb, which claimed 12 lives.
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“Today we lay you to rest sweet angel. I’ll miss you forever and your sweet smile. Until we meet again,” The Real host, 40, wrote on Instagram Thursday along with a quote that read: “Grief never ends… but it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith… It is the price of love.”
Mowry wrote on the caption: “This quote was sent to me by my friend David. When I am having a challenging day, I cling to it.”
Tamera’s sister, Tia Mowry, also shared a photo of a ribbon bearing Alaina’s name, as first reported by Us Weekly.
“We will NOT forget your name,” she wrote on the caption for her photo. “We love you!”
Two days prior tot he funeral, Tamera mourned Alaina’s abrupt passing as she also celebrated her son Aden’s birthday.
“Happy 6th birthday Aden!” the Sister, Sister star wrote in the caption of a photo of the birthday boy and the late teen standing side-by-side on Instagram on Monday. “Alaina was excited to come to your birthday party. But as you said buddy, ‘She lives in your heart now.’ We love you.”
Adam also shared the sweet snap, writing: “He was so excited to give you these flowers and as today as we celebrate his 6th birthday he says you are in his heart Alaina. We miss you so… but I know you are here and you are with him. Please be his guardian angel and Arian’s. Happy birthday Aden, as sad as we are, we are so blessed you have a heart like your cousin and we know you will carry her spirit for the rest of your life and make this world a better place.”
After a few hours of Tamera and Adam frantically searching and asking the public for help locating their niece, Tamera announced the passing of her niece on social media.
“Our hearts are broken. We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks,” they said. “Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner. We thank everyone for your prayers and ask for privacy at this time.”
