Carson Daly is marking the fourth anniversary of his mother Pattie Daly Caruso's death by sharing a sweet tribute to her on social media.
On Friday, the TODAY co-host posted a photo with his late mother and stepdad Richard Caruso and explained that he had just gone to visit Daly Caruso earlier in the day before she unexpectedly died at the age of 73.
"I was in LA on the eve of the Emmy Awards & drove out to Palm Desert, Ca where she was frantically dealing with an out the blue end stage cancer diagnosis for my dad. He was in rough shape. After doing all I could to better their situation and spend some quality time, I kissed them goodbye and drove back to town to have dinner with my wife & attend the show the next day," he wrote.
Carson's biological father had died of cancer, and his mother had had breast cancer previously, so he knew that his stepdad's diagnosis was taking a huge mental and physical toll on her. He decided to send her a text message later that night to thank her for taking such great care of his stepdad.
"She immediately responded, but then suddenly died about 4 hours later. When we woke up to the phone ringing, I answered, 'Is it dad? Did he fall? Is he ok?' To which my brave, still in total shock sister replied, 'No, it’s not dad, it’s MOM, she had a heart attack & passed away,'" he wrote.
In a second post, Carson shared a photo of that last text message exchange and explained that he is "so grateful" to have the chance to look back on it time after time.
"You can feel her love in her words (and emojis). I only am able to carry on each day due to God’s infinite will & strength & the love of my family. My wife, 4 incredible kids and sister and her family (who after this all happened moved across the country so we could be a few blocks away from each other because clearly, life is too short & family is EVERYTHING)," he wrote.
In the text message exchange, Carson sent his mom a sweet shoutout for being such a rock for her husband.
"Thanks for a great visit. So proud how good you both are doing with all of this. I love you. Xoxo," he wrote.
You can certainly feel Daly Caruso's love in her response. "And we love you, the best son on the planet earth!!! ... Thanks for all you did and do to make our lives better and to make us so proud of you. Hope you're having a wonderful dinner with Siri and a great day together tomorrow!! All our love always, Mom and Dad XOX," she wrote.
Related
Carson wrote that he's convinced that God struck a deal with his mother and said if she came to heaven, her husband would join soon (he died weeks later) and her children's families would grow up together.
"She undoubtedly agreed to that proposition before God could even finish his sentence. A trade of sorts … I would have done the same thing for my kids," he wrote.
The father of four ended his tribute to his mother by giving a nod to his family and encouraging his followers to hold their loved ones tight.
"So I’m missing my mom something fierce today, but I’m so grateful I’ll get to toast her with my sister and our families, remembering & honoring Kiki for all that she did for us in our beginning and at her end. Hug and kiss those you love today, you never know when God struck a deal," he wrote.
Related:
