Tamera Mowry is ready to move forward after her late niece, Alaina Housley, died in the Thousand Oaks shooting on November 7. After taking time off amid her family's tragedy, she came back to her hosting post on The Real.
Mowry became emotional upon returning to The Real on Monday. She was comforted by her co-hosts Adrienne Bailon, Loni Love and Jeannie Mai as she explained her grieving process through tears.
"Our family's been through a lot," Mowry, 40, said. "But the interesting thing about grief is that you've gotta find the balance of moving forward and grieving at the same time. It's just been a little over two weeks. She would want me to be here. And she would want me, sweet Alaina, to move forward."
Mowry continued, "I don't like to say move on, because I don't think I'll ever move on with the fact that she's not here with me or with our family. But she would want me to move forward and to use her voice as a catalyst for change, and that's why I am here today."
Alaina's suitemate informed Mowry about how her niece's whereabouts were unknown following the attack. This led Mowry and her husband, Adam Housley, to tweet about how their niece was missing on November 8. In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Mowry's husband had claimed his "gut is saying she's inside the bar, dead."
Later that day, Mowry and Housley said Alaina didn't survive the shooting. Alaina was one of 12 victims.
Mowry pressed for gun reform on The Real. "We need change when it comes to gun violence. And I don't care if I have to knock on the doors of the White House to do it—to advocate change," she said. "Alaina was very sweet and loving and kind. She was also a debater. So she would want me to debate that, but also I believe that it starts from within. Our country, and it's sad to say this but you'd have to be living underneath the rock to not believe these words, our country is sick. It's deceased. It needs healing. It needs healing from within."
Ian David Long, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was named as the suspected shooter. He invaded Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousands Oaks, California, on November 7 with a legally purchased .45-caliber handgun. Authorities found him dead on site.
Mowry last addressed Alaina's death on November 8 when sharing a heartbreaking post in her niece's honor via Instagram. At the time, she claimed to still be in "disbelief" over her sudden and abrupt death. She additionally extended prayers to other victims of the shooting.
"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," Mowry wrote. "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."
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Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more
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