Matthew Perry's mother says it hits her “so hard” that he is “gone” a year after his death

On the one-year anniversary of Matthew Perry's death, his family remembers his life and legacy.

In an exclusive interview with the Today Show is Savannah Guthrie from the town in Canada where Perry grew up FriendsThe star's mother Suzanne Morrison, her stepfather Keith Morrison and his younger sisters Caitlin Morrison, Madeline Morrison and Emily Morrison opened up about their enduring love for Perry.

“Even now something funny will happen – I'll see something funny or something ridiculous on the news, I'll call him,” Suzanne recalls. “I have more freedom in a relationship with him now than ever before. And then it hits me, and then it hits me so hard that he’s not there.”

“We'll go to the cemetery,” Keith remembers, “(and Suzanne will) sit there and chat with him for a while.”

When asked what she missed most about him, Madeline said “everything” and noted how the two made “little jokes” with each other. “He was always there,” she shared. Caitlin added: “There was always a feeling of celebration when he came over.”

“He was grumpy all the time, but he was funny all the time,” an emotional Emily said after taking time to compose herself. “When the people he loved were successful or afraid, he would do anything for you.”

“Really, all he ever wanted was to love and be loved,” Emily said. “He struggled so much to find peace and I think he got to a point where he did.”

Perry died on October 28, 2023 at the age of 54 as a result of an accidental drug overdose. The actor has been open about his decades-long battle with addiction, writing about his time in and after recovery over the years in his 2022 memoir.

It was an often emotionally turbulent ride that his family witnessed firsthand. “Even when he struggled in dark times, we were always proud of him,” Caitlin said. “We were always proud that he continued to fight and made helping other people a big focus of his life.”

“He was always very lonely in his soul,” Suzanne remembers. “I am a very happy woman, but there was a mistake, there was a problem. I couldn't solve it. I couldn’t help him.”

That's a lesson Suzanne learned the hard way. While chatting with Guthrie, she became emotional as she pointed out some of the guilt she's been carrying, emphasizing that she now knows, “You have to stop blaming yourself because it's tearing you apart.” “

Instead, Suzanne, her family members and Perry's friends are turning the pain of her loss into something good and continuing the late star's legacy through their work with the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada.

The organization, of which Caitlin is executive director, is committed to helping others recover. (There is also the US-based Matthew Perry Foundation, which supports the same mission of helping people with the disease of addiction.)

“What (Matthew) taught the world is that no amount of money can cure an addict,” Keith said. “It needs something different, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

“If it doesn’t stop, we’re going to lose so many millions of people,” Suzanne said.

Before his death, Perry had received an infusion of ketamine, a “dissociative anesthetic” with “some hallucinogenic effects,” according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, that was used to treat depression and anxiety.

According to authorities, the drug became an addiction for Perry and was a leading cause of his death when the results of his autopsy were revealed in December 2023. Other factors included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid use disorder, according to the report.

Perry's family told Today that they knew the actor had used ketamine. But as Keith said, “We didn’t know how much he was taking.”

In fact, Keith emphasized that he believed Perry was still sober. “It certainly seemed to me like he did it – even though he was treated with ketamine, that it didn't turn into something he couldn't control,” he said Dateline host said. “Although, you know, he was a guy who made decisions. 'I can handle it. I can do that. I can tell you what is right. I know the entire system inside and out, I know what the drug will do to me.' So there was a concern: 'What is he really doing?'”

“I don’t even know if he mentally relapsed,” Madeline said, a point the family agreed with.

The California branch of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department have since launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Perry's death.

On August 15, five people were charged in connection with the death, including two doctors (Dr. Mark Chavez and Dr. Salvador Plasencia), a woman known as “The Ketamine Queen” (Jasveen Sangha), and Perry's personal life. as assistant (Kenneth Iwamasa).

Three of these people have now pleaded guilty. A trial against Sangha and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded not guilty.

In discussing the cases, Suzanne noted that she was “thrilled” that there had been some accountability – a will that her husband Keith agreed to.

“What I hope, and I think the agencies that involved them hope, is that people who have made it their mission to supply people with the drugs that are killing them will now be taken notice.” ” he said. “It doesn’t matter what professional qualifications you have. You’re going down, baby.”

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Elsewhere in the conversation, Perry's family said they all still feel a connection to the late actor. “I don't think there's a single person in this room who doesn't talk to him,” Caitlin said, noting that on other evenings they had all stopped to watch the northern lights – a sight that reminded her of Perry remembered. “You can feel the divinity in that moment.”

Yet they still feel the grief of his absence.

“I don’t think the grief ever goes away,” Caitlin said. “I found a lot of meaning in thinking about how this is not our tragedy. This happens to people every day.”

Ultimately, the family hopes that sharing their story will help others going through similar grief.

“(There's) nothing special about us, especially the fact that we have an extremely remarkable famous family member who went through this,” Keith said. “And people notice and constantly come up to us and say, 'Sorry for your loss.' Well, millions of people have suffered this loss and we are very aware of it.”

“This is not about us, this is about these millions of people,” he added. “It’s a hurting world and it needs help.”

Today airs weekdays at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.