Melissa Rivers on Late Mother Joan Rivers' Death — "I'm Sort of in the Acceptance Stage of Grieving Now"

Just over a year and a half after Joan Rivers’ death, Melissa Rivers is still grieving the loss of her mother, telling Closer Weekly the hardest part has been “true acceptance that [my mother is] gone. It catches up with you when you’re least expecting it.”

In the new issue of Closer, the Fashion Police host opens up about how she and her son, Cooper, 15, have been coping — explaining that she is “sort of” in the “acceptance” stage of grief nearly two years after losing her mother.

Melissa and Joan in 2013.

“Anger was much more of an issue with my dad’s suicide,” Melissa explains. “I’ve come to the point where I realize that anger can’t be my motivation in making decisions — that was a very profound moment. Will it ever go away? Probably not, but you learn how to temper it and make it into a positive.”

How’s Cooper been doing? Last year he said, “Nothing will ever be good again,” and I said, “You’re wrong! Things will never be the same, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be great.”

Melissa and Joan in 2005.

She tells Closer that she is keeping her mother’s legacy alive by passing down her family’s beliefs to her son.

“The most important thing I can do is be a good parent, raising a person who has the values that our family believed in. A lot of it was philanthropy and giving back, and instilling in [Cooper] that no one is really entitled to anything.”

To read the full story on Melissa and Joan, pick up the new issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now!