Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on Wednesday wrapped up 28 years of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments as an emotional Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. offered his colleagues’ “deep appreciation for sharing the privilege of the bench with him.”

In a voice seeming to break at times, Roberts noted Breyer’s impending retirement effective when the court “rises for the summer recess,” though the term doesn’t officially end until the chief justice gavels it to a close and opens the new term on the first Monday in October.