It’s a milestone birthday for Kathie Lee Gifford!
On Aug. 16, the former TODAY co-host turned the big seven-oh. On Instagram, Kathie Lee’s daughter Cassidy Erin Gifford and daughter-in-law Erika Gifford shared in the celebrations with a series of posts.
With sweet memories and pictures, Kathie Lee’s two family members honored the wonderful “bubbe” that she has become.
Cassidy featured a two-part post in her Instagram story featuring a split message.
“Beyond thankful for the woman, believer and mother you are...” Cassidy captioned one part of her story, which featured a picture of herself alongside her mother.
Cassidy’s brother Cody Gifford also appeared in the picture.
Cassidy’s follow-up post featured a picture of her son — Finn Thomas Wierda, whom she gave birth to in June — and Kathie Lee.
“...And the Bubbe you are to little Finn!” Cassidy wrote over the continued message, which shows a picture of Kathie Lee lifting her grandson in the air.
Cassidy’s follow-up post in the story shows Kathie Lee appearing giddy as she holds Finn and laughs.
Erika, married to Kathie Lee’s son Cody, chimed into the celebrations with a picture of herself, her husband and Kathie Lee. The picture shows the three family members smiling while holding a sonogram.
“You’re the greatest bubbe and most fun of humans!” Erika’s message reads.
In her next story, Erika shared another sweet, smiling picture of her mother-in-law.
This time, Kathie Lee can be seen holding up Erika’s son Frank wrapped in an embroidered bathrobe that reads “Gifford 16.”
“16 Forever,” Erika captioned the story.
The robe appears to be a nod to Kathie Lee’s late husband, former NFL player Frank Gifford. When Cody and Erika first announced the birth of Frank in June 2022, Erika shared an Instagram post noting that they named him Frank Michael Gifford, “Frankie” after Cody’s father.
In June 2023, Erika and Cody announced that they are expecting their second child this winter.
It’s no coincidence that Cassidy and Erika referred to Kathie Lee as a bubbe in their story.
In 2022, Kathie Lee spoke about wanting to be called “bubbe” by her grandchildren during a TODAY appearance with Hoda and Jenna.
In Yiddish, the name means grandmother. It has various spellings, including bubbe, bubbie and bubbeh.
Speaking about the name, Kathie Lee shared that she learned about it from a friend who is from Israel.
“I asked her, I said, what’s a good word for a Jewish grandmother?” Kathie Lee explained. “And she goes, ‘Bubbalah. It’s Bubbie.’”
“And a little kid only goes, ‘Buh, buh, buh, buh, buh,’ anyway. I think it’s going to be easy. Bubbie,” she remarked.
