Hoda Kotb has shared how “amazing” it feels to be 59 after taking a week off from work to celebrate her birthday with her family at her Long Island beach house.
When the Today star returned to the studio on Monday, she said shared her thoughts on getting older and why she’s excited about her sixties, saying she had a “great birthday party.”
“I turned 59 this year and I’m so happy to be 59 this year,” she told her co-host Jenna Bush Hager. ‘I feel so good about it. If you’re worried about getting older, and I know getting older is a thing. 59 is great. It’s been a great year.’
Kotb spent the week with her mother, Sameha; her sister Hala; her brother, Adel; her sister-in-law, Colleen; her nieces, Hannah and Ella; and her daughters Haley and Hope.
Hoda Kotb opened up about her 59th birthday on the Today show Monday after taking a week off from work to be with her family
The Today star called her family at her Long Island beach house on her birthday
She joked that they slept on mattresses and stepped over each other, noting that there weren’t enough towels or food, but they still had a great time.
The journalist’s daughters, Haley, six, and Hope, four, even surprised her with breakfast in bed on her birthday on August 9, and treated her to a stack of pancakes topped with candles.
Kotb remembered feeling nothing but gratitude when she woke up surrounded by her loved ones.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m 59 years old. I have two wonderful children. I have my mom here, my sister, my brother and my nieces, and my sister-in-law,'” she said. . “I kept thinking to myself, like I’m laughing. I close my eyes and I smile, and when you do, it’s like a lot of good things are ahead.”
“I have a feeling this year is going to be amazing… Haley screamed, “My mom is 59!” I was like, “Yeah, I am!” I’m… and I’m so glad I got to be this.”
Kotb explained that every day she focused on living in the moment instead of fearing aging and what the future might hold.
“Look, life is the blink of an eye. Turn around, see what happens. Watch the news. You are here and then you are not. Life is like that, so you have to be in it. You can’t be sorry,” she told Bush Hager.
“I was thinking what if I was 80 years old and God said to me, ‘You’re going to be 59 again. Go back.’ That’s what it would feel like to be in this wonderful situation.”
“I turned 59 this year and I’m so happy to be 59 this year,” she told her co-host Jenna Bush Hager. ‘I feel so good about it’
Kotb spent the week with her mother, Sameha; her sister Hala; her brother, Adel; her sister-in-law, Colleen; her nieces, Hannah and Ella; and her daughters Haley and Hope
Kotb shared that one day she will close her eyes and imagine her life, including how she sees herself in her 60s.
“I actually feel so full. I can see how my 60s will feel, and I love that feeling. I want to think, “What will my life be to us?” I don’t want to sit here and say, “Oh God, ugh,” she said, gesturing to her face. “Who cares, man … because 59 is delicious.”
Bush Hager told Kotb she can’t wait for them to celebrate her 60th birthday together, but she noted that she “don’t want to rush past it.”
“I’m excited about all the days, all the birthdays,” she replied.
Kotb was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 42 years old and came out of treatment unable to conceive. For years she thought that motherhood was not in the offing for her.
She was in her early 50s when she adopted her daughters with her ex-fiancée, Joel Schiffman, 65, and she is now a single mother following their divorce in January 2022.
Kotb’s daughters Haley, six, and Hope, four, even surprised her with breakfast in bed on her birthday on August 9
The mother of two shared a video of her blowing out the candles on top of her pancakes with her youngest child cuddled up next to her
Kotb admitted on the show last year that she worries about how much time she has left with her kids because she’s an older mom.
“You can’t help it — sometimes people come up to you and say, “Wait, you’re their mom?” And it gives you this pause for a second. And your kids look around like, “Huh? What are you talking about?” It’s hard to do,” she said.
“I remember thinking, ‘Why does that bother me? I’m not ashamed to be (my age). I’m glad I’m my age. It’s the perfect storm of my life. Two kids, this time , this job,”‘ she continued. “Someone said, ‘It will get bigger later’ – it will get bigger later, but in between there are those moments where you feel an ouch.”
The mother-of-two explained that she doesn’t care if someone thinks she’s “too old” to be a mom, but comments like that remind her she may have less time with her kids than other parents
“One of the scary parts of being an older mom is wondering how much time you have. That’s a big thought and concern,” she said. “You do a lot of math and that’s something I don’t like to do because it’s scary.”
Kotb commented that she doesn’t want to “avoid” or “ignore” how much time she has left with her kids, but then “something magical” happened when she spent time with her own mother.
“My mom came to visit me and I looked at her and I said, ‘Maybe another 30 years. At least.’ That’s 35 for Haley. That’s 33 for Hope,” she said emotionally. “But that makes me feel very full.”