BOSTON -- It's been a difficult and emotional week for the family of Milena Del Valle, the woman who was killed when part of the concrete ceiling of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel fell, crushing her car.

NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that some of her relatives, including her husband, are in Boston. But many other family members live in Costa Rica, including her oldest daughter, Raquel Ibarra Mora.

Since their wedding day, the Del Valles did everything together, family members said. Speaking from her home in Costa Rica, Mora said the couple was so close, that on Monday night, Milena Del Valle wouldn't listen when Angel Del Valle urged her to stay home.

"(Angel Del Valle) said, 'Milena, I'll go by myself to pick up my brother.' But she said, 'No, I'll go with you.' She didn't want him to drive alone. And that's how the two decided to go to the airport together," Raquel Ibarra Mora said in Spanish.

Surrounded and consoled by family, Angel Del Valle said his wife's smile is the last thing he remembers. While driving inside the I-90 connector tunnel, tons of concrete fell from the ceiling, crushing the couple's car.

"I was just trying to get her out of the car. I was afraid the car was going to explode. At first, I thought she was alive. But she was killed instantly," Angel Del Valle said in Spanish.

Angel Del Valle escaped the mangled wreck through the driver's side window. In San Jose, Costa Rica, the oldest of her three children said Milena Del Valle had just visited them for the first time in five years.

"We were so happy to see her after so many years of her leaving for the U.S. Looking back, we see the visit as a farewell, like a gift from God," Mora said.

The family said no officials from the Big Dig or Boston have called them to offer an explanation or an apology. Still, they said, they hold no ill will.

"It's an accident. It's very painful for us of course, very sad. But what are we to gain by casting blame? It could have been anyone else," Mora said.

"I only thank God that although I have lost my wife, I thank God that at least it didn't happen earlier in the day when it would have been a bigger tragedy. I lost my wife, but maybe that will now serve a purpose, that when they finish a job like this that they will do it right, right from the start," Del Valle said.

Mora said her mother worked hard in Boston to take care of her children and her own mother in Costa Rica.

A memorial service will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Hispanic Community Church in Jamaica Plain.