Today marks the one-year anniversary of the shocking death of Joan Rivers. Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, has done a great job of keeping her mother’s legacy alive since then and paid tribute to Joan this morning with an emotional message.

Melissa posted a statement on her mom’s official Facebook page, thanking all of her fans for their support and the outpouring of kindness they have shown.

“Today marks one year since my mother passed. This was the year of firsts: first holidays, first birthdays, first everythings without mom, without grandma,” Melissa wrote. “While it’s been difficult, I’ve been amazed by the outpouring of love and overwhelming kindness we’ve received from family, friends and people whose lives were touched by the woman they knew as Joan - a woman we all miss so very much.”

Joan died on Sept. 4, 2014 at age 81 following a procedure on her vocal chords. In May, Melissa told the Today Show that she believes Joan’s death was “100 percent preventable.”

Melissa also revealed this week that she spread her mother’s ashes in Wyoming while on vacation with her son, Cooper. It was their first vacation without Joan.

“I was the straight man. She was the funny one,” Melissa said on Today in May about their working relationship. “I would set it up. She would hit it out of the park. If you come across a partnership like that once in your life, as a performer, you're lucky.”

image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com