Grab your tissues! In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Drew Barrymore dedicated this morning’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show to Ross Mathews‘ mom, Gay, who lost her battle with the disease in 2020.

Before the Drew’s News duo sat down at the desk, they shared an emotional heart-to-heart while remembering Gay, whom Mathews referred to as “the best.”

“I learned so much being up close and personal with her during this process,” he said. “It was so heartbreaking but it also taught me so much about strength and family and love — how strong she was and how much I loved her and still do. It was such a gift to have that time.”

According to Mathews, he learned a lot about having “hard conversations” while watching his mom fight cancer. While he always wanted to be the “clown” and distract her from the illness, they eventually had no choice but to focus on what she was going through.

“It was a real challenge because I let her — I watched her come to terms with it,” he emotionally recalled. “I didn’t change the subject and that was peaceful for her. She had such strength through the whole process: the diagnosis, the finding out about it, the treatment, everything.”

Since his mother passed away before she got a chance to meet Barrymore, Mathews noted that she “would’ve loved” his co-host, prompting the actress to share one of her favorite stories from her close friend’s childhood.

“Ross was growing up and he loved to watch award shows,” Barrymore said. “His mom, Gay, put a red towel out on the floor so he could pretend he was on the red carpet. This is who she was.”

Adding onto that, Mathews dished on the time he took his mom on a “Gay Family Cruise.”

“She got on the cruise and for the first three days, she just walked up to people and said, ‘Hi, I’m Gay.’ And I didn’t tell her until day three, like, ‘Mom, they think you’re coming out to them,'” he said. “But she thought that was so funny. She loved humor. She dealt with everything with — I keep using the word dignity because isn’t that what we aspire to? And she really was the epitome of that.”

When they finally sat down at the Drew’s News desk, Barrymore became choked up as she praised Mathews and his mother.

“Thank you for being you. The way that Gay raised you? I mean, what a gift your family is to everyone,” she said through tears. “I mean, I can’t even tell you how much you’ve affected my life.”

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.