Bethany Joy Lenz is remembering Hayden Panettiere following her sudden death at the age of 36.
Taking to her Instagram handle on Monday, the One Tree Hill actress paid an emotional tribute to the late Hayden.
“There is nothing that posting pictures on the internet can do. I avoid it usually in moments like this. But I’m here with my head in my hands and I don’t know what else to do in aside from praying for her soul, which I have done and will continue,” Bethay began the lengthy note.
She further penned, “I’m crushed. I knew the wild little blonde. Was she nine? Ten? I was eighteen. She ran through the Screen Gem studio hallways at 222 E44th St. laughing and playing games in between blocking and camera rehearsals. Long, unruly curls trailing behind her.”
“She knew her lines and everyone else’s. Her intelligence was astonishing. She understood scenes and nuance and human struggle like no child I’d ever seen on camera,” continued Bethany. “And she’d sit with you for a great conversation, then giggle and go play. We’d connect on and off over the years, like the cousin in the family reunion who got famous and life moved her away — but I always felt such joy seeing her when we were lucky enough to cross paths. We’d make a pact to talk soon. Lunch. Dinner. Somewhere we could curl up into a corner — but we never quite made it happen. I mostly stayed up to date through mutual friends.”
“I don’t understand how this is real. Everything seemed to be turning around. She was coming BACK to life, wasn’t she?” added Bethany. “It’s too young and there’s still so much more life. And her daughter…. Hayden, you are surround [sic] by love. I’m sorry for every moment I didn’t reach out or check in. This can’t be real.”
Concluding the heartfelt tribute, the Five Star Christmas star wrote, “These are moments of how I knew you, in glimpses over 27 years. I don’t know how to process this. I am praying for you to know the peace of God now and always.
For those unversed, Hayden breathed her last on Sunday, August 16.
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