One week ago, Buddy Valastro got the call no child wants to hear. He had to come home, quickly — his mother's health had taken a turn, and there wasn't much time left. The Cake Boss star dropped everything to head back to New Jersey to be with his mom, Mary Valastro, in her final moments.

After eight years battling the neurodegenerative disease ALS, her fight was over. Buddy shared the news with fans on Instagram last Thursday: "She left for heaven this morning, surrounded by the family," he wrote. "She is no longer suffering, and I hope she's dancing to 'I Will Survive' with my dad right now."

While Mary retired from filming episodes of TLC's Cake Boss in 2012, she has been a central part of the Valastro family business. To honor her memory and the impact she had on everyone around her, Valastro announced that he's closing all Carlo's Bakery stores worldwide on June 27. The shops, which include several across the U.S. and one in Brazil, will be back up and running with their normal hours on Wednesday, June 28.

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Buddy took over the family business in 1994, after his father passed away. In the years that followed, his mother remained a constant source of support. Mary's battle with ALS inspired him to create the Momma Mary Foundation, in hopes of finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.

"I've seen the most independent, lively person that I've ever met in my life — I mean, she was just like a ball of energy — reduced to not being able to do anything for herself," he told People in a 2014 interview. "And I think that's the part that kills her the most, because she was the matriarch. She did so many things for everyone."

Fans from all over the world have flooded Buddy's and the Carlo's Bakery Instagram accounts with comments expressing their condolences and sharing their memories of Mary. "She was a great woman, a fighting mother, loving and incomparable, charismatic like none, but always with a smile that contagious all," wrote one fan, NahoJ25. "My condolence to the Valastro family ... from Venezuela accompanying them in their pain."

In a post last night, Buddy shared a recent photo of his mother, surrounded by the Cake Boss's family. "The light of our lives," he captioned it.

Others have shared clips from the show, sharing their favorite moments of Momma Mary. "We'll always remember her like this, HAPPY!" wrote the Carlo's Bakery team in Texas.

As the family takes this day to celebrate Mary's life, Buddy has asked everyone to be patient and respectful during this difficult time.

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