Conan O'Brien has paid a glowing tribute to his parents after they both recently passed away.
The 61-year-old TV star lost his dad, Dr. Thomas O’Brien, on December 9 at the age of 95, and his mom, Ruth O’Brien, on December 12 at the age of 92, and Conan has now paid a heartfelt tribute to them both.
He told the Boston Globe newspaper: "I think what my mother and father saw in each other was that they were kindred spirits. They were incredibly hard-working and disciplined."
Conan observed that his dad "was the dreamer" in their family.
The talk-show host explained: "My dad was the one who was saying, 'I’m off to Peru with a change of clothes in my briefcase to try and launch this website for a hospital there high in the mountains.'"
On the other hand, Conan observed that his mom - who was a lawyer - was more of a "realist".
He explained: "My mom was the one who really saw to it when we were little kids that we were fed and our clothes were laid out, and that we got to our dental appointments and medical appointments. She’s doing all this mom stuff, and when that was done, rushing into a phone booth and becoming Ruth O’Brien, second woman partner at Ropes and Gray."
What's more, Conan recalled that his mom always wanted to "fix" other people's problems.
He shared: "If anyone was unhappy around my mom in a 50-mile radius, she thought it was incumbent on her to fix the problem. It did not make her life easy, but it was very much a part of her Catholic drive - that 'I have to be of service to people.' And good God, she was."
