Following the death of her husband, Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee Gifford went back to work, rejoining Hoda Kotb on the “Today” show.
Kathie Lee started on a positive note, congratulating Jenna Bush on the birth of her “precious little baby girl,” Poppy Louise Hager.
“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” she said before adding, “That’s something that my family and I went through last week.”
Kathie Lee went on to reveal that Frank had passed around 9 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, August 9. She noted that the outpouring amount of love from friends and fans has been “extraordinary,” saying that Frank would have loved all of the tributes.
DAUGHTER OF FRANK GIFFORD CALLS NY GIANTS LEGEND HER ‘BEST FRIEND’
She went on to praise her other half for his many achievements, which included being the only person who ever played three different positions in the NFL as well as helping to create the Special Olympics.
Then,she turned her attention away from his public persona to focus on the man he was in private.
“He was born in 1930 into a poverty-stricken home where his father was an oil worker,” she reflected, adding that his family was so poor that there were times he ate dog food and “was grateful to have it.” Kathie Lee explained how this upbringing shaped her late husband.
AL MICHAELS DELIVERS TOUCHING ON-AIR TRIBUTE TO FRANK GIFFORD
“He knew what it was like to be hungry. He knew what it was like to have no clothes on your back,” she said. “But it made him so grateful. Honestly, he is the most grateful human being I have ever known and that colored everything he did.” She also noted that his faith played a key role in his perspective on the world.
“They had nothing, but they had their faith,” she said of Frank’s family. “Every time they moved to a new town, they’d go to church every week as a family, and, as a young child, Frank asked Jesus into his heart and that stayed with Frank his entire life.” Not only did his faith continue as he became older-it thrived.
FRANK GIFFORD DEAD AT 84: A TIMELINE OF THE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER’S AMAZING CAREER
“His world got smaller as his God got bigger,” she said, tearing up. “We laughed until the very end and I just want you to know that this was a man who died in complete peace.” She added that part of his peace of mind came from knowing “that every sin he’d ever committed was forgiven.”
In closing, Kathie Lee expressed her gratitude that Frank passed the way he did.
“I’m grateful that the Lord took him that way because the only thing Frank has ever afraid of his entire life was being a burden to his loved ones,” she mused.
“So I think the Lord for that, for his grace to us as a family.”
ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. WATCH FULL TRIBUTE HERE.
