Andrew Lloyd Webber details sweet moment with son Nick the day before his death

Just weeks after his son Nicholas Lloyd Webber died from gastric cancer, Andrew Lloyd Webber is speaking out about a special moment he shared with him before he passed away.

The renowned composer penned an essay for The New York Times this week and detailed a brief but meaningful conversation he had with his eldest son last month.

“An apple a day, if well aimed, keeps the doctor away,” the 75-year-old recalled telling his son.

Lloyd Webber then set the scene and described how the conversation came about.

"I was speaking in P.G. Wodehouse quotes with my eldest son, Nick, who was in hospice, where he was being treated for cancer just days ago," he wrote.

The witty discussion seemed to entertain Nick, who was diagnosed with cancer 18 months before his death at the age of 43.

“'Here’s one for you,' said Nick, laughing," Lloyd Webber wrote. "He had surmised that, after bulletins from New York, his father, as Wodehouse might have put it, was less than gruntled. 'Has anybody ever seen a dramatic critic in the daytime? Of course not. They come out after dark, up to no good.'"

At this point, Lloyd Webber said, they "hugged and said our goodbyes."

"The next day, my son died. Nothing’s worse for a parent than the death of a child," the theater legend wrote. "In my bones I feel it wrong to write about the closing of 'Phantom' ('Phantom of the Opera,' Lloyd Webber's famous play that recently ended a 35-year run on Broadway) or where Broadway’s going right now. But I’ll try."

On March 18, Lloyd Webber elaborated on his son's cancer diagnosis in a statement shared with TODAY.com.

“I am absolutely devastated to say that my eldest son Nick is critically ill,” he said. “As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is now hospitalised.”

At the time, the EGOT winner said his family was hoping that Nick would "turn the corner."

“He is bravely fighting with his indomitable humour, but at the moment my place is with him and the family,” he said.

A week later, Lloyd Webber announced that his son had died.

“I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital,” he said in a statement. “His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft. Thank you for all your thoughts during this difficult time.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com