Ryan Dorsey's Son Josey Wishes Late Mom Naya Rivera 'Happy Mother's Day in Heaven' with Butterly Tribute

Ryan Dorsey shared how his son remembered his mom on Mother's Day, nearly three years after the actress' tragic death

Ryan Dorsey is sharing his gratitude for his late ex on Mother's Day.

The Big Sky actor, 39, shared how son Josey, 7, paid tribute to his mom Naya Rivera with both his grandmothers on Sunday.

"@joseydorsey did a Mother's Day butterfly release for Mama with Grandma and Grammy (&Bess)," he wrote, sharing photos from the release, where the little one was joined by his Elf on the Shelf. "Afterwards he held his little elf to the sky with a smile and said: 'Happy Mother's Day in Heaven, Mommy.'"

The final picture in the photo carousel shows a toddler Josey in bed with Rivera as she read him The Cat in the Hat.

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Related:Ryan Dorsey Shares Photos from Son Josey's First Day of First Grade: 'My Big Boy'

Explaining how the Elf on a Shelf made a reappearance in May, Dorsey noted, "I've been renovating his room and in doing so, the house is a bit of a mess… Bess somehow showed up a couple days ago because I apparently didn't put it away right… it happened to fall out of a blanket behind a mirror."

He concluded, "But for him it was just right…🥹*His spirit is incredible…Hug'em if ya got'em."

In a March interview with E! News, Dorsey said he has had to "navigate" conversations in his daily life with Josey about what happened with his mom in the three years following her death at the age of 33 by drowning. She had been on a boating trip with Josey, who was 4 years old at the time, at Lake Piru, Calif. in July 2020.

"A lot of the kids find out what his dad does for work. They'll also find out about his mom, which is always something that's tough to navigate," Dorsey told the outlet.

"It's always a reminder of the obvious. Something that's never going to change is what happened and him having to deal with it daily. As he crosses these milestones as a kid growing up, kids talk about their moms at school and dealing with his situation is very unique," he added.

While Josey hasn't seen much of Dorsey's own work, he said he's expressed an interest in taking a look at some of his mom's shows.

"He's never going to forget his Mom," Dorsey told E! News.

"He's interested in watching things and looking at her work one day. That stuff will speak for itself and he'll really get to appreciate the impact she had on people and how talented she was and who his Mom was on the outside, not just in his home life."

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