CBS2 Exclusive: Heartbroken Children Of Slain Officer Face Life Without Their Mother
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- They lost their mother in a moment of violence. Now, as the spotlight on a fallen officer fades, her children are left to move ahead without her.
As New York was coming to grips with the senseless death of Detective Miosotis Familia -- gunned down while sitting in her police vehicle in the Bronx -- it was her children who brought the most comfort to the city.
GALLERY: Funeral Held For NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia
CBS2's Kristine Johnson spoke exclusively with Familia's three eloquent children, who have so much more they want New Yorkers to know about their mother, the hero in blue.
"Everything she does, she does it for a reason," Peter said.
Still speaking of their mother in the present tense; Peter, Delilah, and Genesis said they expect their mother, Miosotis Familia to come walking through the door at any moment.
"It doesn't feel normal. I can't go back to what I was doing because it just doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel real," Genesis said.
Twins Peter and Delilah, now 12, were newborns when their mother embarked on a new career. They remembered her as a 'good cop.'
"There was never anybody who would hate her. She would make everyone around better," Peter said.
Familia's children were well aware of the risks involved with their mother's job.
"I used to watch the news with her, so that's when I realized there's protests and she would be handling things like that," Delilah said.
Nothing, they say could have prepared them for the tragedy that would begin to unfold in the early morning hours of July 5.
"I was woken up at 2:30 in the morning and I was told she got hurt," Genesis said.
"I see a cop telling Genesis she was in an accident. I just thought at first, you know, it was a car accident," Peter recalled.
Wanting to know more, he went online.
"I searched it up and said how she was in critical condition, and that she was shot, and I was like shot? That's crazy, but it said she was in critical condition, so I would think she was fine," he said.
Hours earlier, the family celebrated the 4th of July together.
"We were with my aunt Mercedes. It was really fun. We had hot dogs, burgers, and we went in the pool. My mom was chilling in this chair," Peter said.
For Genesis, their goodbye that day is something she will always remember.
"I think maybe there was something different inside of us that maybe said this would be our last hug," she said.
A last hug, before what would be her last assignment, in the early morning hours of July 5.
"Reality sets in that I'm never going to see her again, and it hurts, and it doesn't feel normal to eat breakfast in the morning or go on my phone, and not get text messages from her," Genesis said.
The children said they feel her presence though.
"I was crying, and I felt warm, suddenly I felt warm, and I think that was my mom," Delilah said.
Familia's presence is one her children will always be grateful for.
"She was a single mom, she had three kids and she would put all of her work into us to help us enjoy our lives," Peter said.
It was on holidays, the kids say, that their mother was in her glory -- Valentine's Day was her favorite.
"She would go all out. I remember last Valentine's Day she got like Pizza Hut and it was crazy, I think we had donuts," he added.
"It was a heart shaped pizza," Genesis said, "It was really nice. I was always looking forward to the holidays with my mom. Actually at Christmas she dressed up as an elf, in an elf onesie."
Also remembered will be her cooking.
"I used to love it when she made like salmon. It's just delicious," Peter said.
Delilah preferred her pineapple chicken.
"That was like the best thing she ever made," she said.
Familia's kids said friends found it 'cool' that their mother was a cop -- a cop on one of the toughest posts in the city.
"My mom knew how to, she knew how to sort of mend that tense relationship, that broken relationship between the police and the rest of the community," Genesis said.
The beat was tough, but she took it for her kids.
"She took that tour knowing it was more dangerous, so she could spend time with us during the day," Genesis said.
Time with her kids was especially important to Familia, each one felt special.
"We would always go to the movies," Delilah said.
"She took me to a Jets game," Peter added.
"We'd have girls day, and we'd get our nails done," Genesis remembered.
That's what makes her death so hard to accept.
"My mom was assassinated for wearing a uniform, and that a person that targeted her didn't even think that she might have had a family or people that she cared about, or people that she needed to go home to," Genesis said.
Now, the children she should have gone home to cling to each other, too afraid to let go.
"Somebody's life was taken senselessly and look what it has done. Look at the lives that it has changed, and our foundation wants to be there for these families because you can't undo it, but you can help carry them, and be there with them," Frank Siller said.
Siller, who started the Siller Foundation in honor of his brother Stephen -- killed on September 11 -- now wants to help ease the family's burden, like he's done with so many others who have died in the line of duty.
"We fell it's very, very important that the community says 'thank you for your sacrifice, and here we're gonna help you financially," Siller said.
The foundation has raised over $300,000 so far, a drop in the bucket, Siller said, for a lifetime of needs.
"We want to be able to raise a large sum of money to put on the side for them, so they can have the quality of life that their mom went to work everyday to make sure they have a very good quality of life," he said.
The Familia children say they will always be grateful for the life their mother gave them.
"I will always be grateful for her because she was a single mom, and she had three kids, and she would put all of her work into us to help us enjoy our lives. She made it happen, I enjoyed my life," Peter said.
The family is still sorting out who will take care of the twins -- Peter and Delilah.
Genesis said her mother would have wanted her to go back to college in September so she could graduate at the end of the year.
The Tunnel2Towers Foundation is still accepting donations on its tunnel2towers.org web site, or toll-free via phone at 844-BRAVEST.