Joan Rivers' daughter Melissa has opened up about how difficult it was to say goodbye to her late mother during the last hours of her life.
Melissa Rivers told People she flew from Los Angeles to New York to be at Joan's bedside at Mount Sinai Hospital after she had suffered complications during an endoscopic procedure in August 2014.
And when the ventilator was turned off, Melissa climbed into bed with her mother as she took her last breath.
"I believe she knew I was there. … I tried to make the transition as peaceful and beautiful as she would want it to be," Melissa said.
It's been nearly eight months since Joan's death, but Melissa says she and her 14-year-old son, Cooper, still miss her every day.
"According to Melissa, Joan and Cooper were really partners in crime. They were extremely close," a reporter for People told ABC.
Melissa has been paying tribute to her late mother quite a bit recently.
At the Daytime Emmy Awards, Melissa highlighted Joan's career following a 1990 Daytime Emmy win for her talk show, saying, "She went on to have 24 more fabulous years, and I got to enjoy all of them with her as her producer, her business partner, her co-star and the best part was as her daughter."
Melissa has also penned a book about her relationship with her mother called, "The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation." It'll be released May 5.
Melissa told People that if she could say one last thing to her mother, it would be to let Joan know that she and Cooper love her and are doing OK.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
