Naya Rivera was only 33 years old when she tragically drowned. What made her death even more of a shock was the fact that nobody could have seen it coming. After taking her then-4-year-old son Josey out for a boating excursion on Lake Piru in California, Naya went missing.
On July 13, 2020, Naya's body was found. Naya and Josey had left the boat to swim, but the boat drifted away, and they struggled to reach it. It's believed that an exhausted Naya managed to get Josey back on the boat but wasn't able to save herself. Her final act was one of pure love: saving her son's life before losing her own.
Naya was no longer married to Josey's father, Ryan Dorsey, at the time of her death, but they remained close. To honor Naya's memory, Ryan posted a wonderful tribute to his ex.
"Today… a year ago we laid you to rest," Ryan wrote. "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." Ryan went on to talk about how much Josey has grown.
"He's sweet, so funny, and his laugh always lights up the room," Ryan continued. 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," he added. "Too soon…" From there, he admitted that processing her death has still been a struggle, even a year out.
"July will probably always be a strange and difficult month in the years that are hopefully plentiful in the future," he said. "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."
From there, Ryan acknowledged the fact that the picture he used for the tribute was Josey giving a thumbs up. That, in itself, was a nod to Naya. "At jujitsu, you gave him a thumbs up and he returned the gesture," he explained. "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."
But the Instagram words do mean something. Naya had a big fan base, and many people were left curious about how Josey was doing. Naya's incident was scary and unfortunate, and it's only natural for people to want to make sure her friends and family are doing the best they can — especially Josey. According to Ryan, their son is handling things well.
Ryan closed his heartfelt note by giving a shout-out to those who are also in a similar position — losing someone they love too soon. "For everyone out there that’s gone through similar events of loss…you know there's not really any words that make it better," he said. "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."
Naya and Ryan got married in 2014. The two had connected after meeting in Los Angeles, shortly after Naya's engagement to Big Sean fell apart. But after her death, Big Sean made it clear that he held no ill will. Not only was his reaction genuine, but it also seemed to be filled with nothing but love and respect.
"Thank you for blessing us all with your talent and presence," he wrote after hearing the news. "You are a hero! Not just because of how you saved your son, also because of the barriers you knocked down for so many people to make them feel confident in themselves and to stand tall and be proud when they couldn't achieve that on their own."
Naya and Ryan's marriage went through some rocky stages. In fact, the two were aiming to divorce in 2016, two years after getting married. Naya admitted that there was a lot of pressure, since many of her fans accused her of "switching grooms." She got married to Ryan quickly after her engagement with Big Sean ended, but the two had a history prior to and were good friends. Still, the accusations weighed heavily on her.
"The media eschewed it into this whole thing," she said to People in 2016. After the big announcement, the two chose not to divorce and instead worked on their marriage. But things didn't work out, and they finalized their divorce in 2018. Naya also released a book, with Ryan's approval, that discussed the ins and outs of their relationship history in more detail.
While Josey will have the pain of living his life without his mom, surely the stories and memories will always take him back. He has a lot to be proud of, and he's a survivor. No matter what happens, Naya will always be in his heart.
