Share and Follow
Rebecca Gayheart took to Instagram to honor the 16th birthday of her and the late Eric Dane’s eldest daughter. The heartfelt tribute came in the wake of the “Grey’s Anatomy” star’s passing.
“Happy Sweet 16 to the sweetest girl — mommy loves you to the moon and back unconditionally forever and ever,” Gayheart expressed, accompanying her message with a series of pink heart emojis. The post featured a cherished throwback image of Billie as a young child.
In the nostalgic photo, Billie beams with joy, sporting a large pink flower in her hair and a denim jumper dress, while holding a pink ice cream cone.
Gayheart also shared a series of family snapshots, capturing Billie in treasured moments with her loved ones, including her sister Georgia. The images were set to the iconic tune of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” adding a sentimental touch.
Adding to the celebration, Gayheart reposted a joyful Instagram Story showing Billie and Georgia in a pink and purple toy Jeep, grinning widely. The caption read, “Happy birthday Billie,” paired with the hashtag “Thisisixteen.”
The Noxema model’s birthday tribute to her daughter comes just days after the death of the “Euphoria” actor.
Dane passed away after a battle with ALS at the age of 53 on Feb. 19.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” the family told Page Six in a statement at the time.
“Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight.”
On Monday, a death certificate obtained by People revealed that he died of respiratory failure with an underlying cause of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Dane and Gayheart called off their divorce in March, prior to him revealing his diagnosis with the devastating condition in April 2024. The couple married in 2004 and welcomed Billie and Georgia, 14 together.
Though the pair remained married, Dane dated both Priya Jain and Janelle Shirtcliff as he battled ALS, while the “Jawbreaker” actress has been linked to Peter Morton.
Last November, Gayheart revealed why she withdrew her divorce filing — which she originally filed in 2018 — amid his battle with ALS.
She shared during an interview on the “Broad Ideas” podcast that in doing so, she was teaching their daughters to show up for family “when times are at their worst.”
“We tell them, ‘We show up for people no matter what. He is our family. He is your father,’” Gayheart said of her daughters during a podcast interview.
She also shared that amid Dane’s illness, she aimed to make sure their daughters felt “taken care of” even as things became “hard and sad and bad” for the family.
Dane, meanwhile, posthumously shared his final words to his daughters in a heart-wrenching episode of Netflix’s “Famous Last Words,” which was recorded prior to his death.
“I tried. I stumbled sometimes, but I tried,” he said. “Overall, we had a blast, didn’t we?”