Savannah Guthrie has reunited with her mom, Nancy, and sister, Annie, after spending nearly a year and a half apart from them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TODAY co-anchor, who's been on assignment on the West Coast, shared a gallery of gleeful Instagram photos Friday that showed her cozying up to her beloved family members. In the pics, the ladies are all smiles as they lean in close to one another.
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"Been waiting for this moment for 16 long months. Together again," Savannah, 49, gushed in her caption.
"I am marveling and lifting a prayer of gratitude for the scientists and researchers who made it possible," she added.
On TODAY Monday, Savannah talked more about their long-awaited reunion.
"Now I'm going to get a little weepy," she told the team. "We had a wonderful time. She's fully vaccinated now, so we took all the advice from the doctors. Of course, my sister, Annie, (and) I got to see her husband and little boy."
Hoda Kotb observed that Savannah was looking extra joyous that morning.
"I gotta say, this is the happiest I've seen you in about a year," she said.
"You know what? I needed to hug my mom," Savannah agreed. "I'm really grateful for the chance."
Savannah has credited both her mom and her sister with getting her through tough times in the past.
In December 2019, she shared the image of a text message from Nancy on Instagram to show how her mom put her at ease with humor just before she underwent eye surgery to correct a retinal detachment. Savannah needed the procedure after her son, Charley, who's now 4, accidentally poked her in the eye with a toy train the month before.
Nancy sent the text two days before Charley's third birthday, joking with her daughter, "Three years ago today you were waiting with bated breath for this new little baby to bring joy to your heart. And every day he has except maybe for the day he threw the train into your eye. Love u. Don't fret."
In the caption of her post, Savannah mused, "A week ago I was worried about having to have surgery and got this text from my mom ... Mom perspectives are the best perspectives."
In October 2017, Savannah was joined by Annie in a special segment on TODAY about sister relationships. Savannah opened up about the pair's special bond while reflecting on the unexpected death of their father, Charles.
“Our whole family just hung on to each other for dear life because it was such a shock,” Savannah said. “We were just trying to figure out how to become a family of four, when we had always been a family of five.”
Savannah and Annie headed off to college shortly after their father died and had a "pact."
“We both decided to live at home. And we had a spoken or unspoken pact that on the weekends, even though we were college girls, one of us would always stay home on one of the weekend nights so that my mom wouldn't be alone,” said Savannah. “That was just something we did together as sisters.”
“I feel like my mom did such a unique and amazing job to create this foundation for us,” Annie said. “To know how to be a good sister is to know how to be a good friend.”
Annie added that she and Savannah are so close that they share each other's joys and pains.
“My sister and I are like the sun and the moon,” said Annie. “Her sorrows are my sorrows. And her successes are my successes.”
Savannah isn't the only one enjoying a happy reunion with family members. She also shared a photo of son Charley and daughter Vale, 6, giving their paternal grandma a great big hug.
She captioned the sweet image, "And on the other side of the country/family — kids get to see their beloved Grammy for the first time."