A day after Anderson Cooper announced that his mother, the fashion icon and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, had died at the age of 95, the journalist paid tribute to her on Instagram.
In a caption that accompanied a series of photos, the CNN anchor wrote that the "greatest gift" Vanderbilt ever bestowed upon him was love.
"In the end, after all else is stripped away, there is only love. My mom believed in love more than anyone. It was her guide, her solace, it’s what drove her, and in her final moments, it is what surrounded her," he wrote. "'I love you, you know that,' she would say to me, and I did, I knew it from the moment I was born, and I will know it till the moment I die."
(MORE: Why Anderson Cooper won't receive an inheritance)Vanderbilt, who was also an entrepreneur and fashion designer, was diagnosed with advanced cancer in her stomach earlier this month, and it spread, Cooper said Monday.
She is survived by Cooper, and was predeceased by her elder son, Carter.