Hundreds attend Northville vigil held honoring Abbas family

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Tonight hundreds gathered at Ford Field Park in Northville to honor the Abbas family killed at the hands of a drunk driver on week ago.

"I can't even begin to share with you how painful this has been on our entire family," said Rana Abbas. 

The Abbas family was hit head-on by a drunk driver coming home from vacation last weekend from Kentucky.  

"Rima was my only sibling and AJ, Izzy and Giselle my only nieces and nephews," Rana said.

The deaths of Assam and Rima and their three children sent a ripple of pain through the Northville community where they called home. 

"We come together to grieve to honor and to break out silence about the profound sense of loss we have suffered this past week," said Angela Jaafar, a family friend and vigil organizer.

The children, 14-year-old AJ, 13-year-old Izzy and 7-year-old Giselle were remembered with stories from their teachers.

"Their smiles are what I see when I think of them, it's what I will always see when I think of them," said Marco Marando, Amerman Elementary School.

The children's friends huddled together to find strength.

Political figures like Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) showed their support Friday night - she introduced legislation this week in Lansing to combat drunk driving in the Abbas family's name. 

"Mothers Against Drunk Driving and groups across the country, (know their name) across the country already," Dingell said.

Those hurting the most shared thanks for the overwhelming support. 

"There are times where we really just, we fall on them for support," said Mohammed Abbas. "And they are holding us up."

The family working to make sense of something that doesn't. 

"Just tell people you love them because you never know when you won't have the opportunity to say it," he said.