Naya Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey honors 'Glee' actress one year after her death: 'Still can’t believe it'

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Naya Rivera’s ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, shared a post on Instagram honoring the late "Glee" actress to mark one year since her death. 

Rivera died in an accidental drowning incident at Lake Piru near Los Angeles, Calif. in July 2020. Her body was discovered following an extensive five-day search after her young son, Josey, who she shares with Dorsey, was found sleeping alone in the boat they rented after she failed to return it. 

On Saturday, the 38-year-old took to Instagram to share a collage of images that included Naya as well as their 5-year-old son giving a thumbs up to the camera. He began the lengthy caption to the post by noting that it’s been one year since Rivera was laid to rest by her family. 

"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," he wrote. 

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Dorsey then went on to discuss their son. 

"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 wrote. "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…"

Naya Rivera and ex-husband Ryan Dorsey appear together on the red carpet.  ( Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

He continued by noting that he is finding the month of July difficult and believes it will be like that for a while. However, he notes that Josey and memories of her help get him through, even if he hasn’t been able to "read or watch anything" about her death yet. After recalling the first time their son gave Rivera a thumbs up, he commented on his decision to put this deeply personal post on Instagram. 

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"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…" he wrote. "Fly high, Rest In Peace, knowing he’s doing ok…he’s being raised right, and he’s got a lot of family and people around him that love him, and you."

Dorsey concluded his post by no longer speaking to his late ex-wife, but rather anyone who may be experiencing a similar loss in their lives. 

"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," he concluded. "We keep going, because that’s all we can do while being as strong as we can be."

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A native of Santa Clarita, Calif., Rivera began acting at age 4, appearing in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "Family Matters" and "The Bernie Mac Show."

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The actress was best known for playing Santana Lopez on "Glee" between 2009 and 2015. Santana was a cheerleader in the musical-comedy and appeared on 113 episodes of the series. She was also one of the many LGBTQ characters in the show.