Patton Oswalt Talks About His Touching Emmy Tribute to His Late Wife

Patton Oswalt won an Emmy Sunday night for Writing for a Variety Special, Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping. And during his speech he gave a heartfelt tribute to his late wife, Michelle Eileen McNamara, who passed away at age 46.

As Oswalt finished his acceptance speech, he dedicated his award to his daughter and late wife saying, “The other one is waiting somewhere, I hope.”

Once backstage, Oswalt opened up further about his grieving:

“I am not trying to say this is meaningless. But it really does seem like the lights have been turned down 50 percent in everything. And it’s going to be a long, long time before I can be the kind of person she knew,” he said.

Oswalt also felt that honoring his wife was the right way to accept his speech:

“Every bit of growth I’ve had in my career came because I met Michelle McNamara. I met and married this woman who was so much wiser and self-actualized and aware in life than I was…I met the real deal,” he continued.

It was an emotional night all around. From Tori Kelly’s beautiful In Memoriam segment to the actual In Memoriam reel itself, it was hard not to shed some tears.

We sincerely hope that Oswalt can find peace over time and we are happy for his Emmy win.

This article originally appeared on our sister site, comicbook.com.