It was a roller coaster of emotions on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
Jimmy Kimmel had tweeted earlier today, "thanks to all for the nice tweets about my Uncle Frank - we'll pay tribute tonight with his favorite guest @DonRickles," in regards to the death of his security guard and sidekick on the show, his uncle Frank Potenza, who passed away two weeks ago.
But before Don Rickles hit the stage, Kimmel gave a heartwarming speech about Frankie by crackin' jokes while fighting back tears.
"Listen, I'm gonna try to do this without crying, but I'm probably gonna fail. But just turn away or something, because it's embarrassing. It really is," Kimmel said.
And just as he starts to talk about the death of Uncle Frank, you hear the knot in his voice.
Kimmel pulls through, continuing to remember his uncle by sharing stories with the audience about Frank's life along with old photos and audio recordings.
It was near the end that we almost lost it, as the host breaks into tears recalling Potenza's last days in the hospital bed with his family surrounding him, and then, right before a memorable video montage, Kimmel adds, "Uncle Frank loved being a part of this show. And I wanna say thanks to my coworkers who talked to him and visited him and picked him up 12 hours early for work. He loved you. And thanks to all of you who came to the show and watched, for indulging me and letting me put my crazy uncle on television."