"What saved me and got me through the last eight years was, nothing was left unsaid," Melissa said.
Melissa Rivers is now remembering the last conversation she had with her famous mother Joan Rivers. The legendary comic died in September 2014 after suffering complications during a medical procedure at the age of 81. "My mother was always one about moving forward," the daughter of the late fashion mogul told PEOPLE in 2016. She was determined to heal from the tragic loss.
More recently, Melissa who is a mom to 22-year-old son Cooper Endicott said she was thankful that her final talk with her mother was so routine. "It was such a mother-daughter conversation," she recalled to E! News. As "horrible" as the following week was once Joan was hospitalized she confessed she felt "so fortunate for that moment where I can look back and say we had a completely normal—touched on work, touched on Cooper, touched on gossip—conversation. Typical, the trifecta." The 55-year-old added, "I'm so lucky that I knew she loved me. And she knew that I knew—and she knew I loved her."
Joan would have turned 90 on June 8 and her daughter believes that "she would not have been happy" with the milestone. "Who we were on TV or in the public eye was vastly different, and is still vastly different, than who we are in what I call our real lives," she said. It's not been easy living without her mother and she admits that candidly. "Everyone expects celebrity grief to be different," Melissa observed. "And it's not. That's something I learned. Maybe there's more of an invasion of privacy, but that doesn't make the emotions any different for anyone, ever."
What gets her through was that she had closure with her mom's death which has allowed her to move forward with peace. "What saved me and got me through the last eight years was, nothing was left unsaid," Melissa said. As to how she celebrates her mom's birthday she said, she and Cooper do so "by lighting a candle and going out for a meal—during which," Melissa cracked, "I can literally feel her spirit slapping dessert out of my hands, saying, 'It's bathing suit season!' Bread would levitate off the table and be moved across the restaurant."
Joan Rivers would have turned 90 this year! Hear Melissa Rivers reminisce about her mother's legendary- and hilarious- career. pic.twitter.com/UGyCQyVYk7
— E! News (@enews) June 8, 2023
The devoted daughter believes her mother's legacy is self-sustaining. "She pretty much has taken care of keeping her legacy alive on her own, being such a legend," adding that she would never dare to follow in her footsteps. "Everyone's like, 'Don't you want to do stand-up? You're so funny.' I'm like, 'No!' I wouldn't want to put myself in that situation. No one in their right mind would ever try and live up to her," explained the author and host of Melissa Rivers' Group Text Podcast.
References:
https://people.com/tv/melissa-rivers-talks-the-two-year-anniversary-of-mom-joans-death/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Jason Merritt
