Miley Cyrus Wrote a Letter to Hannah Montana in Honor of the Show’s 15th Anniversary

It’s been 15 years since Hannah Montana premiered, and it’s no exaggeration to say life has simply not been the same since. Especially for Miley Cyrus, who starred as Hannah/Miley Stewart in the series and the subsequent movie, and even recorded music and toured under that blond wig (well, we assume she wore the wig in the studio).

To commemorate the character’s anniversary, Cyrus wrote a letter on purple Hannah Montana stationery–need it, gotta have it–reflecting on the journey they went through together.

Posted to Instagram, the letter reads, “Hi Hannah, it’s been a while. 15 years to be exact…I didn’t know then, [my heart] is where you would live forever. Although you are considered to be an ‘alter ego’ in reality there was a time in my life when you held more of my identity in your glovette than I did in my bare hands.”

Cyrus recalled making her audition tape for the series, writing, “I couldn’t have imagined when taping myself singing ‘I Love Rock N Roll’ against a white wall in my mom’s friend’s kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee, the name typed in marquee style letters on the front of a first draft script would make my wildest dreams a reality.”

She also shared some of the more tender and even painful parts of growing up that happened over the course of making the series. In addition to losing her grandfather just weeks before the show’s premiere, and falling in love for the first time during the show’s run, Miley Cyrus revealed that she “embarrassingly started my period in a pair of white capris of course on the day a ‘cute guy’ was cast + asked to have lunch with me. Instead I spent it in the bathroom with my mom sobbing + scrambling to find a pair of fresh denim.” Should have been an episode!

She went on to call her costars her family and expressed love and appreciation for the cast, crew, and everyone who made the show possible, especially the fans. BRB, listening to “The Climb” and sobbing.