“I love you beyond this Earth, and until we meet again, the marathon continues.”
Those were the last words actress Lauren London spoke to her longtime partner Nipsey Hussle in front of a 20,000-seat arena on Thursday.
The actress tearfully struggled to begin her speech at Hussle’s memorial service, held inside Staples Center–one she was never prepared to give.
“Never was I prepared for something like this so bear with me,” said London before she went on to call Hussle’s soul “majestic” and share a sweet text message she sent him back in January as he slept.
“I want you to know I feel real joy in my heart when I’m around you, I feel safe when I am around you, protected,” it read in part. “I am totally myself when I am around you. I don’t wear my cool mask anymore. You’ve made me into more of a woman.”
“You’ve been my turn up and my church. I wouldn’t want to go through this journey with anyone but you,” it continued.
However, London said that her true pain was for her son with Hussle, 2-year-old Kross “who probably won’t remember how much his dad loved him.”
Before ending her remarks, London shared that Hussle, who died March 31 at the age of 33, would always tell her that you don’t get to “possess” people, and reminded everyone that Hussle will continue to live in the hearts of everyone he touched.
“We will never be the same,” she concluded. “He’s in all of us.”