#for anton

Dearest Anton,

Today would have marked your 30th birthday. Today would have been filled with birthday wishes rather than ones that broke and warmed out hearts all at once.

I swear this gets harder every year but I'll keep it short and simple. The amount of lives you impacted without even realizing is astounding, the amount of people you inspired is even larger than one could have imagined. It breaks my heart that there will be no new movies or interviews where we will hear your take on a character or subject. That there will no longer be characters that seemed to be written just for you. That your beautiful smile that was full of life no longer feels the same when I see it.

Happy birthday, Anton.

I can't believe it, thirty years old and instead of a wish for happiness, it's became a wish for your memory to live on.

Anton Viktorovich Yelchin 

On June 19th, last year, the world lost one of its most promising young stars. A light was forcibly extinguished. A beautiful new angel entered the ranks of Heaven, or whatever you believe in. 27-year-old Anton Viktorovich Yelchin was crushed by his two-ton pound Jeep Cherokee in the early hours of the morning, pinned against the brick pillar in front of his Los Angeles home. Fans all over the world grieved with all their hearts, and I was one of them. It’s been a year, and I still think about Anton multiple times a day. He was a kind, wise, talented soul, and he was cut down way too soon. He was only weeks away from starting “Travis”, his first film in which he would be in the director’s chair. He left behind his parents, Viktor and Irina Yelchin, his dog Elvis, and a number of friends including but not limited to stars such as Kat Dennings, Chris Pine, Addison Timlin, and his friends from his childhood, Ryan Dean and Ian Cripps. Some of you might know him as Charlie Bartlett, others might know him as Bobby Garfield in Stephen King’s “Hearts of Atlantis”, or Zack Mazursky in “Alpha Dog”, Pavel Chekov in “Star Trek”, Kyle Reese in “Terminator Salvation”, Nathan Harris in “Criminal Minds”, or even the voice of Clumsy Smurf in the “Smurfs” franchise. To me, he’ll always be man who made me want to go into space, when I first saw Star Trek: Into Darkness in 2012. To Ian, Ryan, Kat, and any of his friends and fans, I know he’s watching over you, and you’ll see him again someday. To Viktor and Irina Yelchin, thank you for bringing this beautiful man into the world for as long as he was in it. We all loved watching him grow up, and I can’t imagine the kind of pain you’ve been enduring. He loved you, and he still does. I know it. And finally, to Anton Yelchin, thank you for brightening the world with your light. Thank you for your music, your photography, your movies, your interviews, and your expansive and wonderful heart and mind. Thank you for making this life something worth living, because I promise I’ll live everyday like you did: freely, engrossed in the moment, and loving every aspect of life. Thank you for living at the same time as me, Anton. I promise, one day, I’ll see you again. In the meantime, just know I am forever grateful. I miss him every day, but I try and remember that old quote: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Thank you for letting it happen. We miss you, Anton.