The week of the funeral

As I mentioned in the previous post, we were very well taken care of the week of Nila's funeral. The first item that arrived was from my friends, (Nicole, Diane, Jen, Lisa, Sandy, and Karen) and it was a fabulous "Edible Arrangement," accompanied by 2 teddy bears for the girls. You can't see them very well, but it was full of chocolate covered strawberries that really hit the spot! Thanks ladies!

Reagan (decked out in her Super Girl costume) was excited about the fruit too!

Next came this beautiful arrangement from my parents and my sisters (Rod & Michelle, Benee & Doug, Camille & Brett) ... the flowers were beautiful and lasted an entire 2 weeks! We also recieved a potted plant from my sweet cousin Sara and her husband Steve, as well as a beautiful flower arrangement from Autumn and Chad (both of which I forgot to photograph). These lovely flowers filled our home and brought us much joy, so thank you very much.

Many others sent flowers to the funeral home ... There were SO many gorgeous arrangements there! I took the following pictures on Thursday morning of all the beautiful flowers before we made our way to Union City. A very special thanks to the following families who sent flowers (in no particular order):

• The Fernandez Family
• Bergen Primary Care (Wilkin Family)
• George Spyropoulos & Family
• Mr. & Mrs. Edward Sares & Family
• Richard & Dolores/Douglas & Marilyn
• The Calvo, Melillo, & O'Rourke Families
• Jose, Doreen, Lauren, & Gabrielle Fernandez
• The Berges Family
• The Staff at Stage Accents
• The Fonte Family
• Catherine, Dawn, and Family
• Domingo & L'Oreal Diaz
• Alfonso & Family
• Paul & Kerry Arbadji
• Bill, Fran, Jerry, Marge & Herbert

The funeral services were very nice and everything went smoothly. The funeral was at the church in Union City where Nila often attended Mass. When she first moved in, she was instrumental in getting them to provide a Spanish-speaking Mass service. It seemed appropriate that the Mass for Nila was in Spanish, by a priest who was originally from Spain (where John's father was from).



After the Mass, we went to the cemetary where there was a brief dedication of the gravesite by the funeral director and Jesus. It was incredibly windy that day, so we were all freezing. After the cemetary, all of the immediate family members and close friends went to a Cuban restaurant in Union City for lunch. Everyone was feeling extremely run down by then, so the lunch was a really nice way to unwind and relax. I was happy that my cousin Sara and friend Nicole came to support me to all of these events. I tried to take pictures of everyone at the lunch, but that's when my camera officially stopped working :(

* * *

We were so grateful to have a welcome houseguest from early Thursday morning until Saturday afternoon ... John's cousin Nelly flew up from Florida to be here for the services and to offer her support. We loved having her stay with us and it kept our spirits up during a sad time. We saw her 1 year ago when she came to town for Avery's christening (she's Avery's godmother).

On Friday evening, we all went over to Maribel's house to be together with family. We had a really nice time together that night ...

Hanging out as a family ... Jose, Pepin, Nayda, John, Maribel and Nelly

Reagan, Joaquin, and Avery ... I love that Joaquin is right in the middle of my girls' ages. The 3 of them get together and play so nicely together!!

Pepin and Avery ~ Avery's great grandparents Betty and Wayne gave her this dress for Christmas ... it's a size 18 months and she's almost grown out of it (she's 15 months old in this picture)!

Reagan and Nelly ... I just LOVE this picture!

Lauren and Reagan

Joaquin and Gabby