Ryan Dorsey Shared A Letter He Wrote To Naya Rivera A Year After Her Funeral
He gave sweet updates on their son, Josey.
Somehow, it’s already been a year since beloved actor Naya Rivera’s death. The 33-year-old left plenty of loved ones behind, including her ex-husband Ryan Dorsey. A year after her funeral, he paid tribute to her with an emotional letter shared on Instagram.
“Today…A year ago we laid you to rest. I still can’t believe it. The year has flown by, so fast that it doesn’t seem like it’s been a year at all,” Dorsey wrote on Saturday, July 24, alongside photos of Rivera and their 5-year-old son Josey. Rivera drowned in Lake Piru in California on July 8, 2020, and was laid to rest in a private burial ceremony on July 24, 2020.
He started off by updating her about how their “inquisitive,” “sweet,” and “funny” son is doing. “Our boy has grown so much,” Dorsey continued. “His laugh always lights up the room. He’s an intuitive soul to say the least. To know him is to love him, everyone that meets him is always smiling.”
Dorsey added that Josey is coping well after his mother’s death, writing, “He’s such a resilient strong kid. He misses you but knows he’ll see you again, and the invisible string is something that’s helped us out during this ever-evolving transition of your time with us on earth that was unfairly cut short... too soon.”
Patrice Karst’s The Invisible String is a 2018 children’s book designed to teach kids that an invisible string always connects people to their loved ones, even after they’ve passed away.
“July will probably always be a strange and difficult month in the years that are hopefully plentiful in the future…still hard to see photos, still haven’t been able to read or watch anything,” Dorsey continued. “As the years go by strength will be on my side as I will share the memories with what is the brightest star of your legacy left on this earth, our beautiful son, Josey.”
He added that he chose to include a recent photo of Josey giving the camera a thumbs up because of a sweet memory he, Rivera, and their son had shared. “I remember the first time he did it back at you. At jujitsu, you gave him a thumbs up and he returned the gesture...it was so sweet,” the Big Sky actor recalled.
The single dad wrapped up his post by reassuring Rivera that Josey was being raised by lots of people who love her and her son, and by addressing others who have lost loved ones.
“For everyone out there that’s gone through similar events of loss…you know there’s not really any words that make it better…we know some days are better than others…but know our hearts and energy are with you,” Dorsey wrote. “We keep going, because that’s all we can do while being as strong as we can be.”
