Why Melissa Rivers Is Auctioning Her Mom’s Belongings Two Years After Joan’s Death

It was an emotional day for Melissa Rivers as she checked out the display of items from the estate of her late mom, Joan Rivers, at Christie's in New York City. Two years after her mom's sudden death, Melissa decided to auction off some of her belongings. She spoke to “Extra" about why it was important for her to honor her mother and how she is coping without Joan.

Christie's is selling off 290 lots of Rivers' handbags, clothing, French and English furniture, porcelain, glass and silver, jewelry, and Russian, European, and Asian works of art. Melissa pointed out there wasn't anything that Joan ever told her she couldn't part with, saying, “My mother was always very clear that these were her things and the things she loved and she didn't expect her taste to be my taste and I should only keep what is meaningful and sell the rest, do some good with the money.”

Of course, there were certain items Melissa kept for herself, but her 15-year-old son had the final say. “From top to bottom, we went through everything together.” She continued, “The things that I have kept are the things people wouldn't expect, like the toothbrush cup on the side of her sink because whenever I would be in her bathroom and we would be talking I would always be leaning into the wall looking into the mirror and she would be getting ready and the toothbrush cup, which is this little silver cup, was always right there.”

Melissa also kept mementos from Joan's wardrobe, commenting, “She has all these amazing clothes. My favorite thing of her clothing is her black travel sweater; I wear it all the time.

Aside from the material things, there is one thing that Melissa keeps hearing... her mother's voice. Melissa shared, “I hear that, it's white noise, there are days where I'm like, 'Oh, God, can you please give me a break? Leave me alone for a minute.'"

Melissa also revealed how she celebrated what would have been Joan's 83rd birthday on June 8th. “I lit a memorial candle and had a glass of wine and realized things are good.”