Fallen officer Aréanah Preston remembered on 25th birthday

More than 100 loved ones and community members let go of different colored and shaped balloons in the backyard of an elementary school in Calumet Heights to celebrate the “heavenly” birthday of fallen Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston, who would have been 25 Wednesday.

The celebration took place at Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School, of which Preston was an alumni. Over the course of the gathering, there was a group prayer, song and a balloon and butterfly release right around 6:30 p.m. The breezy air was shuffling around gold star balloons and some “2″ and “5″ balloons while also creating some difficulty for the just-released butterflies to stay in flight. Preston’s family was joined by all those in attendance to sing happy birthday. A birthday cake, which had a picture of Preston donning a graduation cap and gown, read “Happy Heavenly 25th Birthday Aréanah.”

“Aré, we love you,” Dionne Mhoon, Preston’s mother, said. “We miss you, and like mama…