Hoda Kotb took the time to comfort her friend in the midst of heartbreaking loss, as her mom passed away yesterday.
Taking to Instagram, the TODAY anchor shared a post on the app with Ed Sheeran singing "Supermarket Flowers", a song about the grief of losing your mom, which the singer actually wrote about his maternal grandmother. In the clip, Ed is singing the stripped back ballad to a crowd of thousands of people, eyes closed in the emotional moment.
She captioned the video: "A friend of mine lost her mom yesterday. Hope Ed Sheeran reminds her that she is not alone".
Fans took to the comments to share their condolences for the host's friend with a number of emojis. One particular fan called the post "So Beautiful".
© NBCHoda is no stranger to grief herself, as her father, Abdel Kader Kotb, passed away from a heart attack in 1986 aged just 51, while she was still at college.
She said of the moment: "It was like one of those calls in the night that you go, 'Oh my Gosh.'"
© NBCShe added: "He just led by example. He was someone who was such a hard worker. They [Hoda's parents] came here from Egypt, you know, and they really made their life."
Previously she told the Daily Mail that her father's death had influenced her own choice to become a mother, explaining: "I think any older mom who says they haven't done the math is probably lying. I've absolutely thought about it and what it means. What it means for the future."
"But my dad passed away when he was in his early 50s and I was in my early 20s", she added. "I was a junior in college. It was sudden, and scary, and terrible. But the seeds he lay for me during those 20 years, remain with me today. The things he taught me are still a part of me now."
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