Over a year after losing his mother, Carson Daly is opening up about her death.

Daly’s mother, Pattie Daly Caruso, died from a heart attack at the age of 73 in her Palm Desert, California, home on Sept. 17, 2017.

In a Thursday morning segment of the Today show and in a personal essay penned on Today‘s website, Daly, 45, opened up about his mother’s death in honor of American Heart Month, sharing what he wants people to know about heart health.

“I find myself this month being hyperaware about women and their health, as it pertains to the heart,” the Today anchor wrote. “Heart disease is the most common cause of death in American women. And I have been directly impacted by that.”

“It is personal, it is painful, but if it helps just one family, then it’s certainly worth it,” Daly said on Today about sharing his story.

“My mom and I had a special relationship. We were very, very close,” Daly revealed on the Today segment. “She lived everyday like it was her last. She had a saying, ‘Go big or don’t go at all.’ “

“I never would’ve guessed that my mom was going to die of a heart attack … Nothing in the heart, no symptoms. Never saw it coming,” Daly said. “When the phone rang in the middle of the night, I answered the phone going, ‘Is dad okay?’ And it was my sister [Quinn] and she said, ‘No, it’s not dad, it’s mom.’ “

“I don’t know how to articulate my relationship with my mom,” Daly continued, visibly emotional. “The love was so strong that the hurt was so strong.”

Daly also revealed the last text his mother ever sent him: “October 24, 2017, 4:42 p.m. She would die seven or eight hours later, after midnight, this night. This is the last text she wrote me: ‘We love you, the best son on the planet Earth. So happy to have a light out in front.’ I had changed a light bulb before I left the house. ‘Thanks for all you did and do to make our lives better and to make us so proud of you. Hope you’re having a wonderful dinner with Siri,’ — this is us eating before the Emmys — ‘and a great day tomorrow together. All of our love always, Mom and Dad.’ “

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In September 2018, one year after his mom’s death, Daly paid tribute to her on Instagram.

“1 year later I’m still reeling over the loss. I slept in the same exact hotel bed last night where I got the call,” he wrote. “At The Emmys. Surreal. I miss you everyday and love you always. I don’t know why you’re gone, but I’m positive we will be together again. This love is too strong.”

In January, Daly opened up about losing both of his parents only five weeks apart. (Daly’s stepfather Richard Caruso died that October, weeks after Daly’s mother’s death, after a battle with bone cancer.)

“I don’t want to get morbid, but you know I lost my parents [about] a year and a half ago, so in the new year, I think more macro now,” he said to his Today co-host Hoda Kotb, as they discussed their New Year’s resolutions for 2019.

“I think bigger than just the weight, the food — all that stuff is every day. We all struggle with that, we all do the best we can,” he continued. “My new thing is compartmentalizing.”

RELATED: Carson Daly Reveals How Losing Both Parents Just Weeks Apart Has Changed His Approach to Life

“As a parent,” he continued, “we’re always looking so far forward in our calendar to find a moment of happiness, if you will, of relief from life.”

The former Total Request Live host is dad to daughters London Rose, 4, and Etta Jones, 6, plus son Jackson James, who will turn 10 in March.

“My thing is just 24 hours,” Daly said. “Now I wake up and I’m like, ‘Thank you God, I got a new day, a fresh day. How can I be the best husband, the best father, the best coworker, the best fellow citizen? I’ve got today. I’ve got right now, in this moment.’ “

“When I play with my kid, I play with him every day,” he went on. “Losing my folks, the fragility of life, we [forget] … it’s so crazy. I can’t believe I’m 45. I can’t believe I’ve been in Time Square for 20 years. I can’t believe I’m on the Today show.”

“Life goes by so fast that for me, now, it’s just like, live and marinate in that moment when I’m in a tickle fight. And then when I go to bed, it’s just like, ‘You know what? I hope I did good today and if God gives me another day, I’m just gonna do it again.’ “