Jennifer Aniston shares text from Matthew Perry in moving tribute: 'Crying'
"He was such a part of our DNA."
Jennifer Aniston and her Friends co-stars have paid tribute to Matthew Perry following the star's shock death at the age of 54 late last month.
The star, who was most famous for his role as Chandler Bing in the sitcom, died of an apparent drowning, leaving his friends, family and millions of fans heartbroken.
Taking to Instagram to share her tribute, Jennifer wrote about Matthew, who she was famously close to, saying: "Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love.
"Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be."
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She continued, "For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn't hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all."
In the text message, Matthew sent Jennifer the same photo she shared in her tribute of him making her laugh and wrote, "Making you laugh just made my day. It made my day."
"Awww the first of THOUSANDS of times..." she responded.
Jennifer continued her tribute, "Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying “could you BE any crazier?
"Rest little brother. You always made my day..."
She also shared a video from the final season of Friends where Chandler and her character Rachel share a sweet moment where they say they love each other.
Fans were left heartbroken by the post, with one user writing, "This post cuts deep," with another replying, "Cuts TOO DEEP."
"This post is gut wrenching," a third said. "Hugs to you all in this tragic but yet bittersweet time . Rest in peace Mr Perry. You will be loved forever and your legacy will live on through your friends and fans."
"Your words made cry, I can feel how deeply hurt you are, thank you for sharing so intimate feelings... you didn’t have to but we appreciate your words because we all loved him and the idea - and the fact that you all are real FRIENDS even if one of you is only physically absent," someone else added.
Courteney Cox also shared a tribute, writing that she was "so grateful for every moment" she had spent with Matthew. Joey star Matt LeBlanc echoed her words, writing that his friend was "finally free".
David Schwimmer added that he would "never forget" his co-star's "impeccable comic timing and delivery", while Lisa Kudrow referenced Matthew's addiction issues, writing, "Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant."
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