'Today' Show's Savannah Guthrie Tears up After Reuniting With Mom and Sister After 16 Months Apart

Savannah Guthrie is "really grateful" after she was able to spend time with her mother and sister for the first time since before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The Today co-host opened up Monday morning about her time away from the show last week, telling viewers at home that she visited with her mom, who she said is "fully vaccinated," and her sister for the first time in more than a year.

On Friday, she shared a gallery of happy photos from the West Coast visit that showed her cozying up to her family members. The ladies are all smiles in the photos as they lean in close to one another. "Been waiting for this moment for 16 long months. Together again," Guthrie captioned the photos. "I am marveling and lifting a prayer of gratitude for the scientists and researchers who made it possible."

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She opened up about the reunion on Monday's episode of Today. "Now I'm going to get a little weepy," she said. "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."

Guthrie's co-host Hoda Kotb mentioned that Guthrie was looking especially happy Monday 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," Guthrie agreed. "I'm really grateful for the chance."

Guthrie, 49, has previously opened up about her close relationship with her mom Nancy, sharing a screenshot of a December 2019 text message from her to show how she put her at ease just before she underwent eye surgery to correct a retinal detachment she suffered during an accident when her young son, Charley, poked her in the eye with a toy train. 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 October 2017, Guthrie was joined by her sister in a special segment about sister relationships. Guthrie opened up about their special bond and reflected on the unexpected death of their father, Charles. "Our whole family just hung onto each other for dear life because it was such a shock," Guthrie said. "We were just trying to figure out how to become a family of four when we had always been a family of five." She said she and Anna made a "pact" to live at home throughout college. "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," Guthrie explained at the time. "That was just something we did together as sisters."