Jimmy Fallon came back to his familiar “Tonight Show” desk on Monday, just a bit over a week since the passing of his mother, Gloria. No lead-in music was necessary for the tender and pure “thank you” for the devotion of the woman whom Jimmy Fallon always called “my biggest fan.” Not even a moment into his remarks, emotion echoed from the heart, the voice, and the throat of the comedic dynamo and devoted son.

It is the simple things that never leave the memory or the soul when a dear one departs, and a hand-holding habit of love meant the world for Jimmy Fallon and his sister.

He shared sincere thanks and a cherished remembrance of holding his mother’s hand on Monday night.

Oh-so-special squeezes

Jimmy Fallon portrayed the devotion of mother and son with a beautiful recollection of walking to the store with his mother. “She would squeeze my hand three times, and say ‘I love you,’” he described. He would reply with his own three gentle squeezes and the same wonderful three words.

The host brushed away tears as he related being in the hospital at his mother's bedside last week, “I squeezed her hand three times-- I love you,” he detailed, bowing his head. “I just knew we were in trouble.”

Any family member who has experienced the numbing helplessness of offering final words, a final fluff to a pillow or a wrap of a blanket knows that pain.

Whether the result of a long battle with cancer, or the sudden jolt of unexpected crisis, there is no sensation comparable to losing those who took care of children, and now those children can do nothing more for them. Regardless of the home situation, it is a loss that lasts, but the pain eases, and the good memories glow warmer with time.

To parents and children

“I feel so grateful to get to do this every night,” Jimmy Fallon continued. A fellow late-night contemporary, Stephen Colbert, sent one of the most touching condolences to Fallon after the family loss, noting that mothers are “the first and best” audiences for all our lives.

Senator Joe Biden shared his own wrenching story of forever love through life and loss with his son, Delaware Attorney General and decorated Army officer, Beau Biden.

Stephen Colbert welcomed the dad and long-serving politician as his guest on Monday.

As the former vice president has been talking about his memoir, “Promise Me, Dad,” he exhibits not only the same grounding in the Catholic faith as shared by Fallon and Colbert but also the significance of simple remembrances. The elder Biden inscribed “Beau, Beau, Beau, Beau,” in his diary, as a prayer to have just one more Christmas with his son. He wears Beau’s rosary beads as a symbol of “connection” that exemplifies the father-son bond.

Gloria was a frequent fixture in the audience for Jimmy Fallon and “Tonight Show” guests, many of whom shared stories and memories of her through this time of remembrance.

She was a woman who embraced life, and even a nun's habit for a month, before concluding “I didn't get the calling! Ha!

Being a support system in every sense was a calling for her, and her favorite part of any “Tonight Show” was seeing her son carouse through his audience, giving high fives. In Gloria's honor, an extra minute was edited out on Monday to leave more room for those spontaneous affirmations.

Jimmy Fallon affirmed he will “never stop trying to make you laugh” to his mom. He will always feel that special squeeze, too, from the heart.
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