A New Chapter

"Today" Co-Host Kathie Lee Gifford Opens Up About Faith, Family And Life After Frank

by

When Kathie Lee Gifford lost her husband of 28 years, Frank, there were, of course, many tears. But, as the Emmy-winning co-host of "Today" recalls, they were tears of joy – not sadness.

Both Gifford and Frank, 84, were going about their routines that day in 2015, Frank sitting down for his coffee at 7:45 a.m. At 8:30 a.m., Gifford descended the stairs and entered the sunroom, where she had seen him less than an hour before. She found him lying on his back, having passed away peacefully. She would miss him terribly but was comforted that he had found his eternal home, she says.

Gifford remembers that Frank's eyes were wide open, as if in astonishment. She believes it's because he had seen something amazing.

"I believe Frank saw Jesus," she explains in her new book, "The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: My Journey into the Heart of Scriptural Faith and the Land Where It All Began." "And Jesus took his breath away."

She continues: "When I found my husband that beautiful morning and found out he had gone on to glory, I was able to – even though you're shocked, and it's traumatic – stay completely calm. I had what the Bible calls the peace that passes all human understanding. And I had tears, yes, but I was crying tears of rejoicing. I knew right where my husband was. I knew right who he was with. And he wouldn't have come back for anything in the world. And, someday, I'll see him, too, when Jesus takes my breath away."

There's no question that Gifford's faith is as strong as they come.

"It's everything," she notes. "It's who I am, the very essence of my being. If someone doesn't understand that concept, then they don't know me at all."

Her beliefs gave her the strength to return to her job shortly after Frank's death, she says.

"We're supposed to have a season of grief. But it's not supposed to destroy us. God carries us through that time. I've had moments where I've cried tears of loneliness, like when I see a gorgeous sunset that I'm not sharing with my husband. It's moments like that where I have waves of missing him. But nothing that's debilitating to me. I came back to work a week later. "

She showed similar fortitude when her mother, Joan, died this past September.

"The morning that I found out my mother had passed, I was willing to stay [at work] and do the show," she says. "Because I knew where she was, too."

A strong set of convictions is what helped Gifford's children – son Cody, 28, and daughter Cassidy, 24 – navigate the losses as well.

"We don't have cookie-cutter faith in my house," she says. "That's what's so important about it. My children are very, very different human beings than I am and have their own walks with God that are just beautiful."

Gifford's co-host and longtime friend Hoda Kotb remarked on "Today" in the wake of Frank's passing: "This is what any man would dream of leaving behind. She is remarkably strong. I'm in awe of her even today."

The feeling is mutual. Of Kotb, who adopted daughter Haley Joy in 2017, Gifford says: "Nobody is as good at what they do as Hoda. Nobody spreads more joy. She has a life to go home to that means more to her than anything she could have dreamed of. This comes to her at the perfect time. She knows what's truly important."

And when Gifford finally met baby Haley, the co-anchors were overjoyed.

"My girl met my girl and my face exploded," Kotb posted on Instagram.

Together, Gifford and Kotb have weathered many a celebration – and storm. In the wake of Matt Lauer's abrupt November exit from the show following alleged inappropriate sexual behavior, the duo kept delivering the show's third hour with honesty and grace. And, when Kotb was ultimately named as Lauer's successor, no one was happier for her than Gifford.

"We are heartbroken about [Lauer] being gone," Gifford tells People. "But this is a reality. It's a business, and someone has to move on. [Kotb]'s already the hardest working woman there."

Gifford's own work ethic is nothing to sneeze at. After four decades on morning television, she shows no signs of slowing down. Although she jokes that she's been doing her job since before alarm clocks were invented, the truth is, she rises naturally on her own at around 2 a.m. every weekday.

"No, I'm not a snoozer," she recently confirmed while chatting with "Today" co-host Sheinelle Jones.

And she doesn't worry about oversleeping. Instead, she spends a few hours in bed gathering her thoughts.

"I pray. I strategize. I think. I linger," she says.

Around 4 a.m., she takes her dogs out for a walk and begins the rest of her day.

She admits there was a time when she thought about giving it all up. Upon leaving "Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee" in 2000, she told DuJour magazine that she was "actively pursuing not coming back to TV." Then, in 2008, Kotb, "Today" co-host Natalie Morales and producer Amy Rosenblum took her to lunch and made her an offer to appear on their show. Following the appearance, they pursued Gifford, now 64, wholeheartedly for a full-time role. It's now been a decade.

She recalls being shocked: "Wow, how times have changed. Somebody was interested in a post-menopausal woman."

In honor of her 10th anniversary co-hosting with Kotb, the pair jetted off to Italy and appeared remotely from the countryside in Florence, signature glasses of white wine in hand. Despite her demanding (yet enviable) schedule, Gifford still makes time for personal travel, including to South Florida.

"We've had a home in South Florida for over 20 years, down in Ocean Reef," says the Greenwich, Connecticut, resident. "We used to spend a lot of time there when the kids were little."

She also loves Israel, writing in "The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi" that her love affair with the country "began the moment I took my very first step into the Promised Land in June of 1971. I have returned to Israel many times during the last 45 years and each time I have come back a totally transformed person."

In the book, Gifford takes readers through several important areas of the Holy Land, attempting to clarify and bridge some of the gaps between the Christian and Hebrew interpretations of the Bible.

Although she's a devout Christian, Gifford also celebrates Judaism. She was, in fact, born Kathie Lee Epstein. She doesn't believe in picking sides.

"I embrace the Jewish culture first of all because of my father and second of all because of Jesus," she says. "Every important thing that happened in Jesus' life happened on one of the Jewish festivals."

She continues: "I go to Shabbat dinners. I've been to seders on Passover. I don't light a menorah, but I'm aware Jesus was conceived during the Festival of Lights. I think we're missing a great deal in our walks with Jesus by not understanding where we came from and, in fact, applying it. There's so much to be gained from it and so much to be blessed by."

Her late husband shared her spirituality. And, while Frank was undeniably the love of her life, Gifford is open to the possibility of meeting someone new. She's already dipped a toe in the dating pool, only the water wasn't quite her temperature.

"[Hoda] tried to set me up with one date," she told Good Housekeeping.com. "It did not work out. He wasn't for me. The world has changed so much. I was married to Frank for almost 30 years. My heart is open to love again. I just don't know what that looks like anymore."

For now, she has plenty of projects lined up to keep her occupied. One is a dramatic comedy about a woman who suddenly loses her husband. It won't be autobiographical, she says, but will hopefully inspire those who have experienced a loss similar to her own.

The script is moving along, with more announcements to come soon. She remains excited about what this new chapter of her life has in store.

"All things are possible with God," she says. "I'm open to it." O