Big Ang's Final Requests: Special Burial Arrangements, Letters & More
Friends and family are grieving for the death of Angela "Big Ang" Raiola, who passed away in the early morning hours of Feb. 18. But RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that before the Mob Wives star departed from this world, she had some last dying requests for her family.
Big Ang's sister Janine Detore tells RadarOnline.com that Raiola shared a few wishes with her not only from her death bed, but also in the days leading up to her hospitalization.
The 55-year-old reality star wanted to be surrounded by her siblings when her time came. "She wanted all seven of us to be there," Detore said. "My brother flew up from Florida and got there about 12:30."
Big Ang didn't let go of life until she had her loved ones around her. "We all stood by her and she waited three hours to pass," Detore explained. "She waited for all of her brothers and sisters to be there."
Detore also believed that her sister knew her time was coming. "She kept saying, 'I'm ready and I'm at peace with my passing,'" Raiola's sister recalled.
"Ang said, 'I don't want to suffer, but I want you to write me letters,'" Detore said.
Raiola wanted her sister to send goodbye letters to her loved ones for her, but Detore was unable to fulfill this request. "I couldn't accept her dying," Detore said. "I am probably going to regret it for the rest of my life… She knew it was coming, but I couldn't accept it."
But Detore does promise to adhere to Raiola's funeral wish list. "She wanted to be in the wall and doesn't want to be buried in the dirt," Detore noted. "She was claustrophobic."
"She wanted to look beautiful," Detore added. "And she is beautiful."
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Big Ang had been fighting stage four brain and lung cancer. Her last words from the hospital were that she wanted to leave and go back to her house.
Services for the Mob Wives star will be held in Brooklyn on Saturday and Sunday, and she will be buried on Monday. "We will miss her," Detore said.