Friday marks an anniversary Ariana Grande will never forget.
Taking to her Instagram Story on Wednesday, she shared a message of solidarity ahead of the third anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing where 22 were killed and hundreds were injured on May 22, 2017.
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Grande wrote:
“I want to take a moment to acknowledge and send my love to everyone that is feeling the sadness and tremendous heaviness of the anniversary coming up this week. Not a day goes by that this doesn’t affect you and all of us still. I will be thinking of you all week and weekend.”
She concluded:
“My heart, thoughts, prayers are with you always.”
In her YouTube docuseries Dangerous Woman Diaries, which premiered in November 2018, she opened up to fans in an emotional letter about the “horrendous” attack, dated earlier that year:
“I’m writing to you this February 22, 2018. It’s been eight months since the attack at our show at the Manchester Arena. It’s impossible to know where to start or to know what to say about this part. May 22, 2017, will leave me speechless and filled with questions for the rest of my life.”
She added:
“Music is an escape. Music is the safest thing I’ve ever known. Music—pop music, stan culture—is something that brings people together, introduces them to some of their best friends, and makes them feel like they can be themselves. It is comfort. It is fun. It is expression. It is happiness. It is the last thing that would ever harm someone. It is safe. When something so opposite and so poisonous takes place in your world that is supposed to be everything but that…It is shocking and heartbreaking in a way that seems impossible to fully recover from.”
While the 26-year-old was physically unharmed, she has suffered from PTSD symptoms since the attack. She later organized and performed at the One Love Manchester concert to benefit victims and their families, just two weeks after the incident.
In the letter, Ari penned:
“The spirit of the people of Manchester, the families affected by this horrendous tragedy, and my fans around the world have permanently impacted all of us for the rest of our lives. Their love, strength, and unity showed me, my team, my dancers, band, and entire crew not to be defeated. To continue during the scariest and saddest of times. To not let hate win. But instead, love as loudly as possible, and to appreciate every moment. The people of Manchester were able to change an event that portrayed the worst of humanity into one that portrayed the most beautiful of humanity.”
Sending our love to Ariana, the victims, their families, and all those hurting over the horrifying attack.
[Image via Variety/YouTube.]
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