Billie Lourd Honors Carrie Fisher: How Star Wars’ Icon Lives On Through Her Family
Billie Lourd, daughter of Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher, reflected on her mother’s enduring influence as the ninth anniversary of Fisher’s death approached.
On December 27, Lourd shared a heartfelt post on Instagram, pairing a photo of herself with her parents alongside a picture of her own children. She wrote that Fisher continues to live on through her grandchildren. “I’m so grateful to wake up to my kids grabbing my face,” Lourd said, adding that she told them, “their grandma would have loved them so much.”
Lourd, who has two children with husband Austen Rydell, a son born in 2020 and a daughter born in 2022, explained that the joy she experiences with her kids is deeply connected to her mother’s legacy.
“While my mom isn’t here physically, she’s present in the lives that would not exist without her,” Lourd added, noting that her grief felt bittersweet on that day and could shift throughout the hours.
Carrie Fisher, who passed away on December 27, 2016, at age 60, had suffered a medical emergency on a flight from London to Los Angeles just days earlier. She was placed on a ventilator at the UCLA Medical Center but tragically died after four days in intensive care.
Lourd confirmed her mother’s death to the press at the time. Over the years, public documents and news reports detailed contributing factors to Fisher’s death, including sleep apnea, arterial health issues, and traces of drugs in her system.
Lourd acknowledged her mother’s lifelong struggles with drug addiction and mental illness, saying Fisher “was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases…. I know my Mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles.”
Through her social media post, Lourd emphasized the importance of keeping Fisher’s memory alive and cherishing the family bonds that extend across generations. She closed her tribute by thanking her mother and noting she would always miss her.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!
