Kathie Lee Gifford opens up about being a widow three years after husband's death
Actress and TV host Kathie Lee Gifford spoke about her life as a widow after the death of her husband Frank Gifford.
She opened up on Today on July 24, 2018, which she was hosting alongside her colleague, Hoda Kotb.
It is close to three years since Kathie Lee Gifford lost her husband. She reflected on her personal journey towards acceptance and her life as a widow on her show recently.
Read more on our Twitter account @amomama_usa.
The former New York Giants player passed away at their Connecticut home on August 9, 2015, days after his 85th birthday.
The couple tied the knot in 1986 and have two children together. Frank was Kathie’s second husband.
She said that it was strange that a person does not accept that she was a widow for a long time, one does not come to define herself that way.
Then suddenly there was a moment when she just accepted that she was a widow and life had changed. It was on his first death anniversary, she recalled.
She held up her right hand and said that she decided to take off her wedding ring and put it on the other hand.
“In some ways, it seems like yesterday, and in other ways, it seems like 15 years. It’s just weird. You have waves.”
Kathie Lee Gifford, Today, July 24, 2018.
The actress was in Scotland recently shooting for her new movie, Love Me to Death. The film, about a recently widowed woman, was written by her.
She will also star in the movie, which she said brought back the feelings on widowhood for her. She added that there was a scene in the movie when the protagonist realizes that she does not want to be defined by her widowhood any more.
Kathie also described the first meeting her parents had with Frank as Kotb listened eagerly. It was over a Fourth of July weekend when her parents had come over to her home at the Hamptons.
Her parents were hesitant about meeting Frank as he was 23 years older, had been married twice, and was a grandfather already.
He confessed that he “didn’t look right on paper.” However, she compared him to her first husband, who looked perfect on paper but was a disaster.
Kathie’s parents and Frank got along well right from the beginning in part due to the one thing they had in common – their age. “They were the same age. My parents were his peers,” she added as both the hosts had a good laugh.