On Friday March 3, Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice lost her mother Antonia Gorga. The Italian matriarch died of natural causes at the age of 66. On Tuesday, Giudice — who was incredibly close with her mother, as sometimes documented on RHONJ — shared a beautiful video of her mom getting a proper send-off at her funeral. It's very sweet and very sad.
The Instagram post is set to Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's tear-inducing track “See You Again,” and shows, in slow motion, funeral guests releasing dozens of white balloons into the blue sky in honor of Antonia. "Clear skies all the way to HEAVEN for my Mommy I Love You #loveforamom," Giudice captioned the video.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Predictably, perhaps, Giudice has received some backlash in addition to the hundreds of compassionate sentiments expressing condolences. Many are using the comments section to chastise the reality star for releasing balloons into the sky because of the pollution they could cause. While that's a fair critique of the practice in general, and certainly something that people should be made aware of, this doesn't really seem like the proper forum for that. The woman has just lost her mother, and to bash for her harming the environment in the comments on her tribute video seems a little callous in terms of time and place.
Giudice has been posting heartrending tributes to Antonia on Instagram in the days since her death, coupling sweet old family photos and videos with emotional captions.
"Oh mommy, my heart is completely broken, you taught me so much about life, love and motherhood," she wrote next to a photo of herself and her mom. 'This is a pain I've never felt before and goes so deep. I hope you know how deeply you were loved and how very badly you'll be missed."
Another reads: "She will forever be missed and cherished in my heart! Because of her I will find the strength to continue life's journey. My mother, my confidant, my best friend , my everything .. until we meet again I love you mommy."