Bobbie Thomas and her son celebrated the memory of her late husband, Michael Marion, on Marion's first birthday since his death in 2020.
In an emotional update posted Tuesday to Instagram, the TODAY contributor recapped the month of October for their family.
"October was a month filled with celebrations (& sweets)," she captioned a scrapbook-style carousel of family photos. "Up first was Michael’s birthday… Miles & I brought donuts to the beach — a favorite pastime they shared."
She continued, "A few weeks later, I turned 47... not being able to share that day with Michael made his loss a hyper reality, but Miles was a rockstar and asked our neighbor to help him get a piece of birthday cake (all his idea she said)."
Thomas' post included a photo of Miles, 6, at the beach with a plate, and side-by-side images of Thomas blowing out birthday candles this year, versus last year with Marion by her side.
It's not the first time Thomas has opened up about solo parenting in the wake of Marion's passing. Earlier this year, she told TODAY's Hoda Kotb that parenting Miles has helped her cope with the loss. She said keeping Marion's memory alive is a priority.
"I talk about Michael, and I think it's really important that (Miles is) surrounded by him. Pictures. He has so many vivid memories," Thomas told Hoda in June 2021. "He comes walking in, he's, like, 'Mom, look, Dad's favorite candy,'" she said, laughing. "It's like, 'Is this an excuse to eat the candy?'"
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Thomas and Marion married in 2013 in a ceremony at the home of her friend, Kathie Lee Gifford. The couple share one son, Miles, whom she had through IVF after sharing her struggles with infertility. In 2019, Marion suffered an ischemic stroke at age 40. He died on Dec. 1, 2020 at age 42.
"Michael worked hard to recover from his stroke and had made such progress that he was making plans to return to work," Thomas said in a statement after his death. "He landed in the hospital due to problems involving several organ systems, separate from his stroke of 18 months ago, and unrelated to COVID-19."
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