On the Sunday the family gathered at the mural, Mireles was supposed to be in Colorado for a hiking trip with her best friend Angela Velasquez, who still made the trip. She held Mireles’ photo high in the air for a photo.
“I want to hug you one last time and I want to feel the calluses on your hands . . . I want you to come back to me mom. I miss you more than words can explain,” she wrote. “My heart will forever be broken.”, having celebrated her 23rd birthday at her mother’s grave. “Don’t worry about your chicken. It’s perfect,” a reference to how Addy often asked her mom for cooking advice.
Vera, who planned the picnic, prayed for Mireles to guide her, saying, “Tell us what to write. Tell us what to do.”“The day before, I was talking to her, telling her, ‘Please be with me, please show your presence on my birthday. I want to feel you,’” Addy said. “It’s like she told them exactly what to do. It was perfect.”“Mom, I miss you everyday, especially today,” Addy wrote on Facebook on her birthday. “This pain will never end, but it brings me peace knowing you are everywhere I go.