A January 10, YouTube vlogTitle “Allow Me to Introduce Myself,” Naya Rivera’s sister, Nickayla Rivera, stepped into the limelight herself, opening up about her and her family’s grieving process since Naya’s July 2020 death. “My whole family was in complete shock,” Nickayla said. “It was like someone pulled the rug from under us and we didn’t see it coming. The dark place that I was in before only progressed when that happened.”She said, “At that time, I had no thoughts of my future. I had no thoughts of myself really. I was only just experiencing pain.”
After some time, Nickayla had an epiphany. “The pain that I was experiencing wasn’t going to go anywhere until I decided to find the good in this world,”Nickayla shared her thoughts with her subscribers. “So, from then on, I went on this journey of discovering who I was.”It included giving up vaping (which Nickayla stated made her feel worse). “empowered”Start journaling. Nickayla also shared: “I started therapy. I said no to doing a lot of things that I didn’t want to do, but normally would for other people. I started putting myself first.”
Nickayla shared a message to fans that Naya’s passing reminded her of the importance of living in the present. She said she was asking herself this question. “‘Why am I not living like every day is a gift?’ Because it is.”