After earning her degree in 2012, Audreanna Guerra missed graduation after her sister’s death. Fourteen years later, she finally walked across the stage.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For Audreanna Guerra, walking across the stage at graduation was a moment 14 years in the making.

This weekend, Guerra finally got the chance to experience the moment she had missed years earlier and she did it alongside her younger sister, Gabriella, at the Islander Summer Graduation at the Hilliard Center.

Guerra earned her degree in 2012, but she never got to participate in the graduation ceremony.

That same morning she was supposed to celebrate one of the biggest accomplishments of her life, tragedy struck. Her younger sister, Nadia, was killed in a car crash.

“We were just going through life, me graduating, my sister Nadia starting Del Mar College to become a nurse,” Audreanna said. “Everything was just going in life, and then all of a sudden it was just at a halt.”

The three sisters had grown up inseparable, making Nadia’s death even more difficult for the family.

“It was always, you know, the three of us… whether it be to Taco Bell, whether it be to HEB, it was, you know, we were always together,” Gabriella said.

In the years that followed, Audreanna and Gabriella found ways to carry Nadia’s memory with them.

For Gabriella, that included pursuing a career in the medical field. She remembered that Nadia had dreamed of becoming a nurse, so Gabriella chose Medical Laboratory Science as a way to honor her sister.

“I wanted to do something in the medical field. Then I found Medical Laboratory Science. Now I feel like I’m honoring her,” Gabriella said.

Getting through the program took determination and support from her family. Audreanna opened her home to Gabriella and her dog while she completed her studies.

“When I started this program, everything was, ‘Yes, you can move in. Yes, you can bring your dog. Yes, this, yes that, what do you need?’” Gabriella said.

As Gabriella’s graduation approached, she began thinking about her older sister’s unfinished graduation moment.

The fact that Audreanna had earned her degree but never had the opportunity to walk across the stage did not sit right with Gabriella.

So she started making calls and sending emails, hoping the university would allow her sister to finally have the moment she had missed.

“You never know unless you try. And so I tried, and here we are,” Gabriella said.

This weekend, Gabriella received her degree, while Audreanna put on the cap and gown she would have worn 14 years earlier.

For Audreanna, finally walking across the stage alongside her sister was emotional.

“I was like choking back tears the whole entire time. It was just very surreal, you know, like 14 years later, you know, she’s sitting there with me, everything like that. It was just a very beautiful moment to say the least,” Gabriella said.

But the sisters say Nadia was there with them, too.

They carried a keepsake featuring Nadia’s picture and a message that reflected the role she continues to play in their lives.

“On your graduation day, know that I’m walking beside you every step of the way,” the message read.

For Gabriella, remembering Nadia has become a way to keep her sister’s presence alive.

“I always just think like, what would Nadia do?” Gabriella said.

Audreanna also remembers her sister’s determination.

“There was never nothing in her mind where she was like, ‘I can’t do it.’ It was like, ‘How am I gonna do it?’” the sisters said.

Fourteen years after earning her degree, Audreanna finally got the chance to take those few steps across the stage.

This time, she did not have to do it alone.

With Gabriella beside her and Nadia’s memory with them every step of the way the sisters turned a long-delayed graduation into a celebration of family, perseverance and a sister who remains part of their story.

TAMCC contributed to the video footage used in the story.