Ryan Dorsey still finds it "hard" to look at pictures of Naya Rivera.
Ryan Dorsey's post for Naya (c) Instagram
The 38-year-old actor paid tribute to his ex-wife - who accidentally drowned while boating with five-year-old son Josey in July last year - on the anniversary of her funeral on Saturday (24.07.21) and explained he hopes to get stronger in time so he can share more memories with their little boy.
He wrote: "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…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."
Ryan began his post by reflecting on how Josey has "grown" over the last year and praised the youngster for being a "resilient strong kid".
He wrote: "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. Our boy has grown so much.
"He’s such an explorer, so inquisitive. He’s sweet, so funny, and 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.
"He’s doing ok. 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 & for reasons we’ll never understand cut short…too soon…(sic)"
The heartfelt post was accompanied by a black and white photo of Josey giving a thumbs up to camera, which was inset with smaller pictures of the 'Glee' actress embracing him as a toddler, and Ryan explained the significance of the image he'd chosen.
He wrote: "The thumbs up…only a eemed right. I remember the first time he did it back to you. At jujitsu, you gave him a thumbs up and he returned the gesture…it was so sweet. Maybe it’s silly and doesn’t make sense to be doing this on IG and putting this out there, but so is this whole thing. So there’s that…(sic)"
"Fly high, Rest In Peace, knowing he’s doing [thumbs up emoji] ok…he’s being raised right, and he’s got a lot of family and people around him that love him, and you. [heart emojis] (sic)"
Ryan closed out his post by sending love to others in similar situations.
He concluded: "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. We keep going, because that’s all we can do while being as strong as we can be. [prayer and heart emojis] (sic)"
Tagged in Naya Rivera Ryan Dorsey