Naya Rivera’s 7-Year-Old Son Wished His Mom A ‘Happy Mothers Day In Heaven’ With A Butterfly Tribute

Naya Rivera’s 7-year-old son, Josey, celebrated the late actress on Mother’s Day with a touching tribute. His father, Ryan Dorsey, shared a series of photos via Instagram showing Josey releasing butterflies and even sent a special message to Rivera.

In the first image, Josey stands alongside one of his grandmothers while she holds an iPad with the other lovingly watching him. Other photos show the young boy holding and releasing butterflies with the last one being a photo of Josey cuddled in bed with Rivera while reading The Cat in the Hat together. “@joseydorsey did a Mother’s Day butterfly release for Mama with Grandma and Grammy (&Bess)… Afterwards he held his little elf to the sky with a smile and said: ‘Happy Mother’s Day in Heaven, Mommy.'” part of his caption read.

Dorsey then added a little context as to why the Christmas toy made an appearance for Mother’s Day. “I’ve been renovating his room and in doing so, the house is a bit of a mess…” he wrote. “Bess somehow showed up a couple days ago because I apparently didn’t put it away right… it happened to fall out of a a blanket behind a mirror. But for him it was just right…🥹”

In a recent interview with E! News, Dorsey opened up about how important it is for him to help his son “navigate” through coping with the loss of his mother. In 2020, Rivera, who made a name for herself in Fox’s hit musical series Glee from 2009 to 2015, died as a result of an accidental drowning. “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,” he said in late March. “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.”

The Big Sky actor added, “He’s never going to forget his Mom. 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.”

Scroll back up to see the touching tribute!