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While Al was fighting for his life in a New York hospital, his “Today” show family—Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer—became a vital support system for the public. They shared updates with a mixture of professional poise and personal grief, often visibly moved when discussing their friend. This period was marked by a historic absence; for the first time in 27 years, Roker was not present to co-host the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an event that many Americans consider inseparable from his voice. His empty seat at the parade and the Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony underscored the deep void his absence left in the national fabric.
