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“Today” style editor Bobbie Thomas admits she was “terrified” to return to work one year after her husband Michael Marion’s death.
“To be honest, there’s a real anxiety and sadness about going on the show because, in a lot of ways, it’s like having to really accept that life is officially moved on,” Thomas, 47, told People Wednesday.
“He’s not coming back, and in a weird way, when somebody takes that time to step back, I could be in that bubble and protect it.”
A tearful Thomas was back on the NBC morning show’s set Thursday, 13 months after Marion died of a bacterial infection that led to organ failure. He was only 42 years old.
“I am so lucky to call this home,” she told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager before announcing a new project called “Dear Bobbie,” which will see her accept submissions from viewers about their own life challenges.
Marion, who was a lawyer, suffered a stroke in April 2019 that left him struggling to walk. It was unrelated to the infection that ultimately led to his death in December 2020.
Thomas, who is now raising their 6-year-old son, Miles, as a single parent, told People that grieving amid the COVID-19 pandemic was especially “cruel.”
“God, it takes me right back,” she said, noting her family was in Los Angeles but that she had “selfless” in-laws who offered their support.
“I lost Michael, and it hurts, and I would never ever want this, but I gained 10 people [who] jumped into his spot, and I know not everybody has that,” she told the mag.
Before going back to “Today,” Thomas also penned a candid essay for the show’s website in which she said she felt “blessed” to enter a new chapter in life.
“I just really want to boomerang back with my whole heart. I feel like I’ve always been looking to extend myself as a girlfriend. I’ve called it a ‘professional girlfriend’ — whether it was talking about the power of lipstick or helping to navigate something else in the lifestyle arena,” she wrote.
“For me, what pushes me is knowing that I’m not alone. And I think the outpouring of love that I was really lucky to have and grateful for because of this platform has just pushed me to find purpose for my pain.”
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