Ginger Zee took to Instagram on Friday afternoon to celebrate her mom, Dawn Zuidgeest-Craft's 70th birthday. The Good Morning America meteorologist – whose maiden name was Ginger Renee Zuidgeest – shared several photos of her mom along with a moving tribute to the special 'one of a kind' woman, and fans were obsessed with how alike the pair were.
"You look so much like her, that smile and hair gives it away," wrote one person, while another fan said: "Ging, she looks like your twin sister!!" But it was the emotional story which Ginger shared about her lookalike mom which took the attention of several in the comment section.
Writing in the caption of her special post, Ginger began: "Raise your hand if your mom turns 70 today!" She then continued: "Now raise your hand if your 70 year old mom decided to retire from a half a century career as a neonatal nurse practitioner and professor of nursing and go to medical school because she always wanted to… Wait, no one else?"
Having explained a little about her mom Dawn's recent history, she then referred to her as "truly one of a kind" before adding a sweet personal message: "But mom, I’ve told you dozens of times this year-it’s not your accomplishments, your many degrees or even the hundreds of babies lives you have saved that makes me grateful for having you as a mom – it’s you, for being my mom, my mentor and good overall human."
Ginger finished her post by writing: "If anyone ever wonders where I get my energy, drive, commitment, resilience and strength, look no further than soon-to-be Dr. Dawn. Happy birthday @zuidgeestcraft - now go figure out how we can all make it to double 70 so we can hang out even longer."
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Alongside their birthday wishes, one fan wrote: "What a great accomplishment! As a former nurse I extend my congratulations. I know I couldn’t do that. You go girl!!!!" A second fan commented: "UHH what!?!?!?! Now it makes so much sense… you're like the energizer bunny Ginger, you definitely get that from your mom after what you just shared. What an inspiration!!!"
A third follower turned the attention to some of the sweet throwback photos the 42-year-old weather host shared of her mom with her grandchildren. "You can see how proud she is of you and the boys," they wrote, to which Ginger replied with a single red love heart emoji.
The GMA star is married to fellow TV personality Ben Aaron, and the couple have two children, Adrian, who is seven, and Miles, who is five. While the pair are careful to keep their family life private, Ginger does sometimes share snapshots with the boys, as she did in May when the whole family attended the boys' first baseball game together.
The boys obviously enjoyed their trip to the game, as in June they returned to watch the New York Yankees play again. Writing in her post's caption, Ginger said: "Baseball stadium #2 complete - go @yankees #baseball #stadiumtour #mlb #myboys."