Katie Couric honored her late husband and their love story on what would have been their 30th wedding anniversary.
The former Today show host took to Instagram on Monday to share an emotional tribute to her late husband, Jay Monahan, who passed away in 1998 at the age of 42 of colon cancer, leaving behind Couric and their two daughters, Carrie and Ellie.
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In the post, Couric shared photos from their wedding day.
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“Dear Jay…It’s June 10th 2019 and today would have been our 30th anniversary,” she wrote. “I hope you would be proud of the way I’ve lived my life and know you’d be proud of your girls who have grown into incredible young women.”
“I think you would like @johnmolner who honors your memory and knows there is room in my heart for you both. With love, me,” she continued. “PS I’m glad they didn’t let you escape in that last photo! And sorry for the pouffy hat I was trying to look ‘jaunty.’ #thenavychapel #icarryyouinmyheart.”
Couric and Monahan had tied the knot in 1989 when she was just a Washington D.C. correspondent for Today and he was a lawyer. In 1997, six years after Couric became the co-anchor of the popular morning show in New York, she revealed that her husband had been diagnosed with colon cancer.
On January 24, 1998, just nine months after revealing his diagnosis, Monahan passed away.
In a 2017 piece for TIME, Couric wrote about how difficult it was watching her late husband grow ill.
“I’ve had 19 Thanksgivings and Christmases since my husband died,” she wrote. “Many of them have been full of joy and laughter; the days, months and years of living have made me forget when sleep provided the only refuge and the first few seconds of wakefulness were quickly invaded by a familiar sense of dread.”
“I now have a new husband, a wonderful person I adore, who is warm and wise and so funny,” she added, referring to her 2014 marriage to John Molner. “He’s different from Jay, but I think Jay would approve. I think they would have been friends. His greatest gift has been allowing me to love them both.”
In the years since Monahan’s death, Couric has been a strong advocate for colon cancer awareness, undergoing an on-air colonoscopy in 2000.
