Dear Adrienne Shelly,

I was just in the middle of writing more humorous, irrelevant blogletters when I found out you were senselessly and brutally murdered. I can’t really explain–well, not without smothering my feelings–how much your performances in Trust and The Unbelievable Truth meant to me. You grew up and it seemed real. You were beautiful. Maria Coughlin was my hero. And because of the weird way films work, you’re going to just have to be okay with being Maria even though you weren’t really Maria in real life. I’m sorry.