A bittersweet day. As Tamera Mowry continued to mourn the loss of niece Alaina Housley, she also celebrated son Aden’s birthday.
“Happy 6th birthday Aden!” the 40-year-old actress wrote on Instagram on Monday, November 12, captioning a photo of Housley and Aden posing side-by-side. “Alaina was excited to come to your birthday party. But as you said buddy, ‘She lives in your heart now.’ We love you.”
Housley, 18, was one of more than a dozen victims of the shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 7. In the wake of the tragedy, Tamera’s sister Tia Mowry told Instagram followers Housley was missing, writing, “If you know anything or any information please let us know.”
Hours later, Tamera and husband Adam Housley confirmed that Alaina had been killed. “Our hearts are broken,” the couple said in a statement to Us Weekly on November 8. “We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks. 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.”
”She was an incredible, beautiful girl who didn’t hurt anybody, and was excited to go to Italy for a program overseas,” Adam, 47, told Entertainment Tonight the same day. “She was a good girl. She was a good girl. Really good girl.”
Tamera later honored her niece with a gallery of photos on Instagram. “Alaina. My sweet, sweet Alaina. My heart breaks. I’m still in disbelief,” the Sister, Sister alum wrote in the caption to the November 8 upload. “It’s not fair how you were taken and how soon you were taken from us. I was blessed to know you ever since you were 5. You stole my heart. I will miss our inside jokes, us serenading at the piano. Thank you for being patient with me learning how to braid your hair, and I will never forget our duet singing the national anthem at Napa’s soccer game. I love you. I love you. I love you. You are gonna make one gorgeous angel. My heart and prayers are with every victim of this tragedy.”
