By Charley Burlock
Publication Date: 2026-02-01 12:31:00
When Justin Harrison When he got the call in 2022 that his mother would likely die that same day, he didn’t panic. He boarded a plane to Singapore, where he was scheduled to speak at a conference about his startup You, Only Virtual, a platform that lets users chat with AI versions of their deceased loved ones and that Justin believes can ultimately eliminate grief as a human experience. While flying across the Pacific, he learned of his mother’s death.
“My presentation went from My mother has stage 4 cancer and is dying To My mother died on Tuesday night“That was a pretty wild turning point,” he told me. Otherwise, Justin said, little changed in his life after his mother’s death. He didn’t plan a funeral; he didn’t feel the need to. He didn’t wake up crying, tied to his bed under the weight of his grief.
I should argue that Justin loved his mother, Melodi Gae Harrison-Whitaker. Love for your mother isn’t unusual, but Justin’s relationship with Melodi is…
