In honor of Hoda Kotb’s last week on TODAY, she was surprised Tuesday by the family of a woman who died due to breast cancer in 2017 and with whom the co-anchor shared a close bond.
Hoda first met Erin Ludwig, her husband, Jason, and her two daughters, Savannah and Aubrey, in 2016, after more than 30 of her friends and family members nominated her to have a special day as part of the #PinkPowerTODAY series.
Hoda, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, immediately got teary-eyed when Erin Ludwig’s husband and two daughters, now 13 and 10, walked out in Studio 1A after a segment about the family.
Hoda immediately hugged Jason, Savannah and Aubrey Ludwig as she cried and exclaimed, “Wow, wow, wow.”
“We would not miss this for the world,” Jason Ludwig said. “When we first got the call that we were asked to come back, (I) sat with the girls, we talked, and without a doubt, we all decided we wanted to come back and be here for you, Hoda.
“You have touched our lives in ways you have no idea,” he continued. “And we’re just a small percentage of the people whose lives you’ve touched over your career.”
Jason Ludwig shared he brought his late wife’s favorite flowers and that his girls brought stuffed animal bears for Hoda’s daughters, Haley and Hope, in honor of Hoda’s last week on the show.
“We wanted to bring those for you because that was one of the best gifts that they treasure, is the ones you brought for them,” he said, referring to a time when Hoda surprised the girls with teddy bears. “So we wanted to be a full-circle moment and bring them back to you, Hoda, for your daughters.”
He added that his daughters are both playing sports and that his family support system of his dad, brother, sister, cousins and girlfriend has helped him raise the two girls.
“My girlfriend has been there for me, and I couldn’t do it without her,” he said. “She’s been there for me through the past few years helping me raise them.”
“She’s still very alive in our house and in our memories,” he said of his late wife.
Aubrey also handed out two additional gifts to Hoda and Savannah Guthrie: handmade friendship bracelets.
Hoda said she will “treasure this bracelet,” before thanking the family for coming.
“I can’t believe this moment happened. You guys, I can’t, I don’t know how to say thank you,” Hoda said. “I can’t wait to tell my girls about you girls — it’s going to be pretty cool. I’ll do that tonight too. And so you said the bears (are) on your bed right now? OK, well, the (bears) will be on their bed tonight too.”
Erin Ludwig was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 after she noticed a lump while breastfeeding her younger daughter, and she shared special moments with Hoda in 2016.
Erin Ludwig, her husband and her two daughters had a photo shoot on the beach and a surprise visit from her loved ones that sparked her instant connection with Hoda.
“Erin, just so you know how much you are loved, we have never gotten this many submissions for a single person,” Hoda told her in 2016.
Erin Ludwig died in March 2017 at age 35, months after her time with Hoda and following her two-year battle with breast cancer.
Hoda returned to Virginia Beach, Virginia, in October 2017 to surprise Erin Ludwig’s family, holding two big teddy bears for the girls.
“The girls will do something and … it will remind me of Erin and it’s happy and sad at the same time,” Jason Ludwig told Hoda at the time. “Like Aubrey talking … Erin never got to see that really.”
He described getting into a new routine without his wife as “a struggle every day,” but shared what he hoped for his daughters as they grow up.
