Tamera Mowry-Housley reflects on niece’s death: ‘You never know when God is going to call you’
Written By Tina Wyatt // EEW Magazine // Death + Family
As the one-year anniversary of the Borderline Bar Shooting approaches, “The Real” talk show host Tamera Mowry-Housley reflects on the loss of her niece, Alaina Housley, who was among the victims shot to death.
Tamera Mowry Housley and Alaina Housley (Credit: Instagram)
“You never know when God is going to call you,” she told Natalie Morales during the TODAY journalist’s exclusive tour of the former “Sister, Sister” star’s Napa, California home.
On November 7, 2018, using a smoke bomb and a handgun, a hooded Marine combat veteran dressed in all black opened fire during college night at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, California. Ian David Long fired more than 50 rounds into the crowd killing 12 and wounding one before turning the legally purchased .45 caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol on himself, taking his own life.
This is Tamera’s favorite photo that hangs on the family picture wall (Credit: TODAY)
“It’s a moment in time I will never forget,” said Mowry-Housley, 41, staring at a photograph of the deceased 18-year-old—the youngest of the victims—that hangs on a wall of family pictures in her foyer.
“This is one of my favorite, favorite photos,” the Christian media personality told Morales as she shared a touching story behind the sentimental black and white photograph.
“I was having a really rough time, and one day when I came back [home], my husband had surprised me and put this photo [on the wall],” she remembered.
Adam Housley, her spouse of eight years, is Alaina Housley’s uncle.
When Emmy-winning Mowry-Housley noticed the framed photo hanging, she said, “I just cried. I was just like, Oh my gosh, Adam. This is just the sweetest thing.’”
Mowry Housley said the grief and heartbreak tied to her niece’s untimely death has taught her to treasure those close to her. “You never know when it’s time to be called home. So really love on your loved ones in the moment,” she said.
