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Kathie Lee Gifford Celebrates First Birthday, August 16, Without Frank: How Did She Do It? [Opinion]

By Christina St Jean
Published on: 13:28 PST, Aug 17, 2015

Most women would certainly find it difficult to celebrate a birthday solo after decades of sharing the day with their husbands, and it is certain that Today co-host Kathie Lee Gifford found herself in the unenviable position of being celebrated and continuing to celebrate her beloved late husband. August 16 would have marked her late husband Frank’s 85th birthday, and it was a birthday they shared — she turned 62.

First among those honoring Kathie Lee Gifford and her beloved late husband was Hoda Kotb, her colleague from the fourth hour of Today, who was grieving the loss of Frank Gifford as well.

Kris Jenner also took the time to send Kathie Lee best wishes on what had to have been a challenging birthday. She lamented, in her Instagram post, that she was not able to spend time with Kathie Lee but prayed for her friend’s ability to enjoy her birthday nonetheless.

Kris and Caitlyn Jenner have been friends with Kathie Lee Gifford for years, and it is no secret that Frank and Kathie Lee are godparents to the two youngest in the Kardashian/Jenner clan, Kylie and Kendall Jenner.

Of course, her employers also ensured the day did not pass without birthday greetings from them.

While Kathie Lee has made it clear she is embracing her faith throughout the grieving process, she will need to embrace that grief is more like a spiral of stages instead of the staircase that many often envision. Feelings that she will have thought were long since dealt with will resurface so she can deal with them more deeply if needed.

No doubt, Kathie Lee will be going through photo albums and the endless tweets, Facebook messages, and Instagram posts, in addition to the seemingly unending tributes to both her courage and Frank’s storied life. Kathie Lee will hopefully — and undoubtedly — share these with her children, Cody and Cassidy, who outside of the occasional tweet and Instagram post have been largely silent since their father’s passing.

Kathie Lee has been battered by the media over the years, most notably in the 90s when the child labor scandal involving her clothing line erupted and particularly when her beloved Frank was involved in an engineered indiscretion. However, Kathie Lee has shown unending tenacity through every trial she has endured. Hopefully, she has embraced the legacy that her husband has left and truly had the opportunity to celebrate both her life and that of Frank’s on their joint birthday.

[Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images]

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