Denzel Washington expressed his grief over his mother Lennis Washington’s death on Wednesday’s episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Yahoo! reports that the actor broke down after discussing the death of his mother, who died in June at 97 years of age. Washington talked to Colbert about his prior quote of a mother being a boy’s first love.

“A mother is a son’s first true love. A son, especially that first son, is a mother’s last true love,” he said before he began choking up. He also explained how his mother had been there for him throughout his life and his acting career. After saying that she “went home,” he asked Colbert for a tissue as his emotions caught up with him. He also revealed that he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral.