Carson Daly Returns to Today After His Mom Pattie's Death: There's No Place She'd Rather Have Me Be

Co-anchor shares how he's grieving in the aftermath of losing his mother

By Samantha Schnurr Oct 04, 2017 2:19 PMTags
Carson Daly, TodayNBC/Today

Carson Daly is coping with the loss of his mother with the help of his second family. 

The Today co-anchor returned to work Wednesday morning, two weeks after his mom Pattie Daly suffered a heart attack and passed away. She was 73 years old. 

"She died at 73, but she lived a life passionately twice as much," Voice host told his colleagues. While Daly stayed positive about his beloved mom, he was also candid about his grieving. 

"I'm doing ok, you know, I'm healing—still in shock, really rough loss," he told co-hosts Matt LauerAl Roker and Hoda Kotb. "Nobody likes that phone to ring in the middle of the night to get that call."

"Of course, my heart rebreaks for everybody in Las Vegas who just lost so many people and they also got that call that somebody that they loved was suddenly taken away from them and it's an incredible pain, so my thoughts and prayers certainly go out to everybody in Vegas," he continued. 

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Today Show Family Album

This is what unconditional love looks like. God give me the continued strength I need right now. #tbt

A post shared by Carson Daly (@carsondaly) on

As he carries on with life without his mom, Daly is giving himself time. "I've learned it's a process," he said. "I have great faith, great family, incredible friends. You guy have been unbelievable."

Daly could not have been more complimentary about his workplace, expressing his gratitude for the outpouring of love and support everyone he works with showed him during his family's difficult time. "The people here at the Today Show are the highest quality human beings not only that I've ever worked with—forget that it's a TV show—that I've ever been around. I cant thank you guys enough. I really could not have gotten past this without my faith in God, my family and you are my family and my friends."

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Carson Daly's Mom Pattie Daly Caruso Dies at 73

Reflecting on Pattie, Daly also had to thank the show for giving his mom a place to find him every day. 

"You guys gave my mom the greatest gift ever by employing me on the Today Show because she could watch me every single morning in her kitchen and I know that she did," he explained. "There's no place she'd rather have me be than right back here."

Trying to stay lighthearted about his mama, he also joked about her kleptomaniac tendencies. According to Carson, Pattie kept virtually every kind of memento, from wine corks and restaurant menus to copies of the show's rundowns. 

As he later revealed on social media, she also kept a goodbye letter she wrote to her son and daughter in 1998 while she was "in the thick" of her breast cancer battle. 

"She clearly thought she might not make it. We never knew," Daly captioned a photo of the letter. "This was 1998. She lived almost 20 years longer. She survived and thrived. Never give up."