SALISBURY, N.C. — A somber memorial sits at a Salisbury home on Church Street where two girls died in an overnight fire last weekend.
[ RELATED: Salisbury house fire kills two young kids, chief says ]
Jesus Cedeno said his nieces, 4-year-old Rosemary and 3-year-old Isabella had the “energy of 10,000 people.”
“To be honest with you, they had a lot of energy,” said Cedeno, their great uncle. “They’re running in heaven now, probably giving God a hard time.”
Two teddy bears and bouquets of flowers sit on top of the ash and rubble of their front porch.
“Imagine the worst news they could ever give you and even though they were not my girls, they were like my daughters,” Cedeno said. “(It) hit me hard.”
Cedeno said that Christmas will be difficult this year and likely every year moving forward.
He did share one last holiday with the girls, which was Thanksgiving.
“And they were sharing with us and they were their usual selves jumping, dancing, singing, saying ‘I love you’ and everyone kissing everyone,” Cedeno said. “I thank God that he allowed us to have that kind of last day with them. We had no idea it would be the last day that we would see them both. But like I said, it was like God giving us the opportunity to say goodbye, and I’m thankful for that too.”
Cedeno said that his family is one of great faith and that the memories are what’s helping him through this time.
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And we need to make sure that we remember all the happy times we had with them,” he said. “And just lift their memories up and just know that even though they’re not here anymore, we’ll get to see them again one day and they’re with God, and that’s what has brought a lot of peace to us.”
The community has showed its support for the family in many ways and Cedeno is grateful.
A GoFundMe account has raised nearly $6,000 since the tragedy.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
VIDEO: 2 children dead, adult hurt in Salisbury house fire, officials say
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