“Glee” star Lea Michele has finally broken her silence on Twitter following the death of her boyfriend and co-star, Cory Monteith. The 26-year-old posted the following message on the social media site on Monday, July 29, along with a personal photo:

Monteith passed away on Saturday, July 13, in his Vancouver hotel room. A rep for the actor released a statement at the time, confirming the reports on Monteith’s death and adding that “we are in shock and mourning this tragic loss.” An autopsy revealed that the star died of mixture of heroin and alcohol.

A rep for Lea Michele, who had dated the 31-year-old for a little more than a year, said the following the day after his death: “We ask that everyone kindly respect Lea’s privacy during this devastating time.”

After the autopsy was released, another statement on behalf of Michele was issued, thanking fans for “all the love and support,” and giving an update on the actress. “Since Cory’s passing, Lea has been grieving alongside his family and making appropriate arrangements with them,” stated the rep.

Sources revealed to Showbizspy.com that Michele “broke down in tears” when she learned of her boyfriend’s death over the phone. She has since become a source of strength for her “Glee” coworkers.

The Fox series, which is heading into its fifth season this fall, pushed production back to August to allow the cast and crew time to mourn the loss of their friend. “Glee” co-creator Ryan Murphy told TVLine that the decision to only hold a short delay in production came from Lea Michele, who wanted to get everyone back together “sooner [rather] than later so that mortgages could be paid and people could take care of their families.”

“Lea is obviously very grief-stricken, but she’s also one of the strongest people I know,” continued Murphy. “She wants people to be better and get back to work. So that’s what we’re going to do.”

Writers and producers behind “Glee” have not explained how they will write off Cory Monteith’s character, Finn, but they do plan to tackle a tasteful tribute in the third episode of season five. “We’re going to take a long writer’s hiatus after that episode to refigure the season and continue to take care of the cast and crew and work on setting things up in Cory’s honor -- scholarships, what have you -- because that’s what we’re dedicated to doing,” Murphy explained.

“Glee” returns for its fifth season on Sept. 26.

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