Thank you Hoda, for making us feel like family

Dear Hoda,

 Thank you for giving us you.

Thank you for being you.

For waking up at crazy hours every day to bless our mornings.

For being vulnerable and for being strong.

For writing your books and sharing your story of hope.

For surviving cancer and for sharing so intimately your life choices, including adopting those two precious girls.

Thank you for being our morning coffee companion, for your daily presence and for your powerful decision to step down to step into your life and give Haley Joy and Hope Catherine more of you.

You made us part of your family, so we will miss you but understand and support your choice. You kept us updated all these years, the children, the engagement, the ending of the engagement, all the twists and turns, all those tears and all that laughter, you shared it all with us.

I’m especially grateful that you gave my life a boost. You quoted from my 50 life lessons and shared them on your social media. To thank you, I sent you my book God Never Blinks. Many weeks later, one morning after my morning meditation I came back to find my phone lit up with texts of congratulations. What just happened?

You held up my book during your show and told the world how it had blessed your life. I don’t remember what I had prayed for that morning, but wow, God is good.

So are you.

You once told AARP that you kept my book on your nightstand. That’s the highest honor for any author, to be on the nightstand, not on the New York Times bestseller list, although we want that, too.

You gave me even more. You were so generous; you gave me a blurb for my book.

Then you had me on your show. Even though you’ve interviewed thousands of celebrities, you made this kid from Ravenna, Ohio, feel like one. Actually better than that. You made me feel like family.

You were and are the real deal. Authentic from the heart, goodness, kindness and joy.

So much joy.

That’s what I will miss most when you leave Today. But for today, you’re still there, still blessing our lives.

One of my most popular life lessons is, No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

You have done that. Over and over and over. No matter who you felt, you showed up and gave us you.

And for that, America thanks you.