Patton Oswalt wrote an emotional tribute to his late wife, author Michelle McNamara, five years after her death in 2016.

The United States of Tara Star, the actress married Meredith Salenger In 2017, two photos of Michelle were shared on Instagram, along with a caption about what the anniversary of her death means to him and his 12-year-old daughter. Alice.

“Of course I thought of her today,” Patton began. “And I also thought of Alice and how the loss shaped her and continues to shape her. And how Meredith fell into our lonely, broken life and helped put the pieces back together, stronger and leaner than before. That dark day turns into a year a little less dark when I see Alice – a living piece of Michelle safe in the hands of Meredith – move on in the light, I’m there to capture the shadows that try to creep in on the edges or from behind me can see them well, and then Alice helps me make them laugh. And what’s left is this beautiful, vivid memory. “