“Real Housewives of Miami” star Alexia Echevarria revealed her mom died on what would have been the reality star’s wedding day.
The Bravo reality star shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late mother on Instagram, saying she lost her battle to COVID-19 the same day she was meant to marry fiancé Todd Nepola.
“Early this morning I lost my mom to the horrible and deadly COVID-19. The last couple of days have been a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I was on the road to marry the man of my dreams when I had to stop everything as my mother became ill,” she wrote alongside a series of photos of her and her mom.
“What was supposed to be the happiest day of my life today has turned out to be the saddest.”
Echevarria, 54, gushed that her mother was a woman of “strength and beauty” who acted as her “best friend” and “psychiatrist.”
“My mother was the kind of woman that was respected, admired, inspirational and so ahead of her times,” she shared. “She was a trailblazer in so many aspects of life.”
The Bravolebrity shared that her mother was a political refugee from Cuba who was able to put herself through medical school and raise three children.
“I will always cherish your stories, your wisdom, your strength, and your zest for life,” Echevarria wrote. “I’ll always admire your love for connecting with people and I will always share the love for your second homeland, Spain.”
Echevarria closed out her emotional tribute by thanking her mother for everything and asking her to watch over her family.
“To say I will miss you does no justice for what I feel, no amount of tears can express the pain I feel in losing you but then again thank you for the honor of sharing a lifetime with me,” she wrote.
Echevarria starred on the first three seasons of “RHOM,” until the show went off the air in 2013.
The show is back in production now on a fourth season, set to air on Peacock.