Anderson Cooper Honors His Mother Gloria Vanderbilt After Her Passing

Glorida Vandebilt -- heiress, socialite, fashion icon, and mother of Anderson Cooper -- has died. The CNN anchor took to the air Monday morning to pay tribute to his mother, who passed away from stomach cancer.

Cooper shared that Vanderbilt was taken to the hospital earlier this month and learned that she had advanced cancer in her stomach that had spread.

"When the doctor told her she had cancer, she was silent for a while, and then she said, 'Well, it's like that old song: Show me the way to get out of this world, because that's where everything is.'"

"Joseph Conrad wrote that 'We live as we die alone.' He was wrong in my mom's case. Gloria Vanderbilt died as she lived: on her own terms," he continued.

Vanderbilt spend her last weeks surrounded by family and friends are her home, according to Cooper. The icon, who was notoriously reclusive, spent her last days ensuring the was with as many people as possible -- including Cooper himself.

Gloria Vanderbilt was 95 years old. See the segment below.

Above: Gloria Vanderbilt and sons Anderson Cooper and Carter Cooper circa 1980 in New York City.