One of the first times I met Gabby it was an immediate feeling of comfort.

I felt like I knew her forever. I always recognize those types of connections because I think they are so special. Gabby was just that.

Right off the bat I could tell how much she valued family. She would tell me all the stories about growing up with her cousins and she would always have the biggest smile on her face. She was her happiest surrounded by family. I just know she will be watching over everyone. A guardian angel for life.

Love you Gabby🤍

My fondest memory of Gabby is when we were in the backseat driving somewhere and she told me about her narcolepsy. She basically said that whenever she was in the car, she couldn’t keep herself awake and always fell asleep. I talked to her the entire time we were in the car and she never fell asleep and I was very proud of that moment. I was able to keep her awake during a long car ride.

I did not know Bella personally, but I know her little sister, Izzy. During a time in my life when I was navigating something with my own sister, Izzy was there for me in such a meaningful way. We would give each other that look — the “sisters will be sisters” look — raised eyebrows, wide eyes. It’s hard to explain, but it said everything.

She always gave me thoughtful advice and spoke so highly of her older sister. I know Bella played a huge role in shaping the beautiful person Izzy is, and I know she is so proud of her little sister.

Sisters will be sisters. Sisters are forever.

Sending infinite love to the Perpetuo family. Fly high, Bella 🪽 I know you will continue to send signs that only could come from you.

Gabriella was my first friend at Monarch my senior year – and I was her first friend at Monarch her junior year.
We met the day before classes started, both of us with our families at the front office. We all chatted, I was coming from Texas, and I had a couple cousins already enrolled – so we all joked that we already would have a great first day together. And we did, and many more days after and throughout that year.
Buying things for spirit week, going to football games, SOCCER games (more importantly), house parties, skipping school to go to the beach, she’d visit me during my shifts at Petland with our friends and play with the puppies… so many fun memories. I just remember her smile so well.
I had to leave Florida abruptly before the year was up, but we kept in touch here and there throughout our twenties, and I miss her dearly.
Shattered to have heard about her loss in this physical realm, though I feel her in spirit. I love you forever Gabby.

Gabriella é filha do meu primo, Juninho, que em 2006 nos recebeu em sua casa junto com a Monique para um jantar maravilhoso, que reuniu tios e primos num encontro maravilhoso. Foi quando conheci a sua linda família. Gabriella e Isabella crianças lindas e muito felizes. A imagem que guardo de vocês! Guardo fotos de recordação deste dia, inesquecível. Moro no Brasil, e nesta época estava passeando de férias!

Hi my name is Lisa. Gabby and I went to nursing school together. She always had a beautiful smile and was so easy to talk to. She will be missed. To her family I say , hold on to those beautiful memories and remember she’ll always be in your hearts ❤️🙏

I’ve known Gabriella since I was five years old. She was my very first best friend, the first person who chose me back in the simple, sacred way children do. We grew up together despite the distance in location at times, and we truly went through it all, the fights and the make-ups, the silence, yelling and tearful apologies, the long nights that turned into early mornings, the growing pains, and that cold-water shock of figuring out adulthood on our own. We learned who we were together. We made mistakes together. We forgave each other more times than I can count. We were born two weeks apart, so similar in some ways and complete opposites in others. Gasoline and fire, inseparable when we were good, frostbite when we weren’t. We could push each other’s buttons like no one else, and we could defend each other just as fiercely. There was a depth to our history that only comes from shared childhood, shared secrets, shared becoming. No matter where life took us, that foundation never disappeared. It was stitched into who we are. It was why we always ended up back in each others orbit. Gabriella was loud. Bright. Unforgettable. She didn’t enter a room quietly, she arrived. She had a laugh that filled every corner of the space around her, the kind that made other people laugh just because she was laughing. She had a warmth that made you feel safe, seen, and understood. And that nose scrunch, so uniquely hers, that so many of us adored while she adored my scrunch too. Her presence was light and chaotic at times, the kind you don’t realize how big it filled a room until it’s suddenly gone. I hope that despite the last four years of distance, she knew how deeply I loved her. That even my anger now comes from unbearable grief and guilt that I couldn’t fix what was happening. Grief is complicated. Love is complicated. But ours was always real. Even without one last conversation, one last memory together, she will live in my heart forever, not frozen in the way she left, but alive in every memory that shaped us. Hales and Gabs. Gabriella was brutally taken from this world by a cruel, evil and cowardly act of domestic violence. That truth is painful, and it is heavy. But her light is not gone. It lives on in all of us who carry her forward, in the stories we tell, in the laughter we share when we remember her, in the way we love more intentionally, and in the way we try to protect one another better. Her life mattered. She mattered. Save me a spoon Gabs, we still have a pint of Half Baked to share again. Until then, I promise to be better, to protect louder, to pay closer attention, and to always, always love you. I hope you know I’ll always always be thinking of you.

Gabriela, even though we did not have the chance to know you, we deeply feel your loss. May your light and kindness continue to live on in the hearts of those who loved you.

I remember when Gabriella was staying at my house in MA, we slept in the same bed and we would watch a movie or TV show every night or she would play with my dolls with me. There was one specific moment where I was playing with my American girl doll and I wanted to braid her hair but I didn’t know how. Gabriella then showed me how to do a braid on the doll and I kept attempting to do it how Gabriella showed me. Gabriella was patient with me and kept showing me the same steps over and over until I finally got it! Ever since I only know how to braid hair because of her, every time I do a braid in my hair or in someone else’s hair, I think of her, because it was such a big thing for me as a kid to learn. I’ll forever remember and cherish this memory.

In 2017, I traveled to the U.S. for my friend Felix’s wedding. I hadn’t been there in a few years, and Gabriella came to see me at Marcelo’s house. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we sat on the back porch and talked for a while. I remember thinking that this was the first time I was meeting my niece as an adult. She was about 21 at the time. I found myself reflecting on how fast life had gone by—“Yesterday she was just a bratty teen, and all of a sudden she was all grown up, talking about her plans for the future.” I don’t remember exactly what we talked about, but I do remember feeling so happy for the opportunity to chat with her, just the two of us. I will cherish this memory forever.