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Heartwarming Gift Gives Teen Chance to Celebrate Graduation with Parents ‘in Heaven’

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Graduation is a rite of passage for many, and one teen was able to share her accomplishments with her late parents thanks to a heartwarming gift from her boyfriend. Icee Villarreal’s boyfriend, Julian Vasquez, made sure the girl’s parents would be able to see their daughter “from heaven” on her special day, surprising her with an enlarged photo of them the morning of her graduation.

The San Antonio teen lost both parents in separate motorcycle accidents. Her mother, Jessica Villarreal, passed away en route to her 37th birthday at Medina Lake in 2010, according to mysanantonio.com. Her father passed away exactly a year later in 2011, “when he was involved in another motorcycle accident on Potranco Road.”

Heartwarming Gift Gives Teen Chance to Celebrate Graduation with Parents ‘in Heaven’

Photo: twitter.com/iceevilla

“So I’m getting ready for my graduation & my boyfriend and his family surprise me with this,” shared Villarreal on her Twitter feed. “They got it made so I know ‘they’re watching me walk the stage from heaven.'” Vasquez, with the help of his parents, wanted to make sure Villarreal’s parents would be able to witness their daughter walk the stage.

The teen tweeted out a photo of herself holding the photo of her parents. It drew an overwhelming response of over 5,000 people liking, retweeting, and many leaving a comment about how the gift was a true tear-jerker. Villarreal’s parents “were leaders of the Sentinels Motorcycle Club and formed the husband-wife heavy metal band, One of Sixx,” shared San Antonio Express-News archives.

Although the Alamodome didn’t allow the photo on the day of the graduation due to its size, it was waiting outside for her to add to her movie screen of memories that day. Villarreal plans on attending Northwest Vista College to finish her basics with plans to major in forensics at the University of Texas at San Antonio before moving on to medical school and earn a Ph.D. in pathology.