George W. Bush painted an adorable portrait of Hoda Kotb and her two daughters in honor of her 60th birthday.
The “Today With Hoda & Jenna” co-host became visibly emotional when the 43rd president’s daughter Jenna Bush Hager gifted her the heartwarming painting during Monday’s episode.
“This is something that I hope you can hang in your new home,” Hager said. “I had my dad, who has started painting, paint your favorite photo of you holding your girls.”
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Kotb’s eyes immediately swelled up with tears as she looked at the portrait that depicted her walking in the park with her daughters, Haley and Hope.
The former president signed the artwork with the number “43” in the bottom right corner.
At a loss for words, the TV personality simply held up the framed painting for the audience.
Hager, 42, also became emotionally overwhelmed as she hugged her co-anchor and urged producers to cut to a video, saying, “It’s too much.”
Kotb adopted Haley, now 7, and Hope, now 4, with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
The mother of two decided to adopt after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, which left her unable to conceive, per People.
Being a mother has always been a dream for Kotb, though she struggled to believe she was worthy of the role.
“I remember vividly turning 50 and saying to myself, ‘This life that you have is great and don’t ask for more because you’re deserving of only what you have,” she said during Monday’s episode “Today.”
“I wondered if I was worthy of being a mother. I wondered that. And one day I said, ‘I wonder if it’s OK to say out loud: I wish to be a mom.’ … What I was doing was speaking it out into the universe.”
Kotb eventually realized her heart was able to expand “beyond measure” and she decided to take the leap.
Monday’s celebratory episode also included a sweet video message from Kotb’s daughters, who said, “Happy Birthday, mommy, we love you.”
As Kotb enters a new decade, she told Pvnew that she hopes to find love again following her split from Schiffman in 2022 after eight years together.
“I can see romance clearly, I just can,” she exclusively told us. “It’s how you know something is meant to be.”
