Leah Remini Mourns Death of Dear Friend

Leah Remini is mourning the loss of a close family friend. The actress, 51, revealed on Tuesday that her friend Trish died in late April following a “nearly decade-long, brave battle with cancer.” Trish was not only Remini’s friend, but also served as her daughter Sofia’s nanny since the time of her birth in 2004. Trish also appeared on Remini’s TLC reality series It’s All Relative.

Remini announced the news on Instagram, where she paid tribute to Trish with a photo montage video highlighting Trish’s time with the family. Remini shared in the caption that “Trish was a big part of our lives and continued to be even after our girl grew up.” She said that she feels “so blessed to have spent quality time” Trish in the last month, during which Remini said she “got to tell her how much she meant to my family and me.”

“Trish’s love for life, her family, friends, and those she cared for were like no other. She loved a lot, danced a lot, sang a lot, and cooked her ass off. She lived and lived fully,” Remini continued. “Trish had a twisted sense of humor that made me love her instantly (the last picture depicts how she felt about cancer). Her laugh filled every room she walked in with joy. I will miss Trish in ways I can’t describe in a caption.”

The Tuesday post also included a letter Remini said she wrote to Trish “a few weeks ago while she was still with us.” Remini said she wrote the emotional letter because she “wanted her to know how much she meant to me and how grateful I am for how she protected and loved Sofia.” The actress explained that she decided to make the letter public “to let you know how precious life is, remind you not to take those you love for granted, tell those you love what they mean to you, and tell those who impacted your life what they mean to you.”

Trish first discovered she had breast cancer after going in for a routine mammogram. In a 2015 episode of It’s All Relative, according to The Wrap, Trish admitted that she initially put off the routine examine, stating, “without Leah, I probably wouldn’t have gone to get a mammogram. Life gets in the way. So who knows where I would be today if she hadn’t forced me to go get that.” Throughout her years-long battle, Trish kept fans updated on social media, sharing her final post on April 6 which was a photo of herself spending time at the beach with family.