Everybody's Got Something by Robin Roberts, Veronica Chambers Page A
Authors: Robin Roberts, Veronica Chambers
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Deb, and I remember seeing pictures of Will. He was the cutest little boy, and he would come to the studio. Dana and I would spend time talking after the show and often ran into each other at charity events.
I remember thinking, “Wow, here she is juggling her husband’s illness, being very active in the fund-raising and the research.” She believed with all of her heart that Christopher Reeve was going to walk again. He, too, was convinced he was going to walk again, and although it didn’t come true for him, it moved mountains for the spinal cord injury patients who benefit from his legacy.
I’ll never forget the first time I met Christopher Reeve. Even though he was in a chair, he had a larger-than-life presence. He was Superman in that chair. It was inspiring to see the joy with which Dana juggled the various roles in her life: caregiver of Chris, Will’s mom, media personality. She was also an actress and a cabaret singer. She was talented in so many ways.
We knew that Chris’s future was uncertain. But it was a shock when Dana, a nonsmoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer and died less than two years later. It was such a tragedy. I remember looking at Will, an orphan at thirteen, and thinking that he seemed so tiny to be facing such a monumental loss. I remember seeing the news coverage of Will at his mother’s memorial, with his older siblings. His hands were in his pockets and his head was down and I thought, “Oh, my gosh. Is he going to be okay?”
I always have such an affinity for the interns we have at GMA . They often reach out to me through my assistant, Sonny. So I have a lot of one-on-one meetings with the interns in my office. I also host a lunch for the interns every year, and I truly believe that I get as much as I give to them. The college students who come to work with us every summer are so creative and so energetic. I love the sparkle of infinite possibilities in their eyes. They are such bright lights, I know I’m going to be working for at least one of my former interns someday.
So I pay attention to the new faces on the studio floor. The moment I saw Will Reeve I thought, “Wow, he’s an Adonis. He’s such a wonderful combination of both his parents.” He is just this handsome, charismatic young man. He turned out okay. Better than okay. His parents did such a miraculous job with the limited time they had with him here on earth. Meeting him, you would not think he had any hardship in his life. Back at school that fall, Will wrote a paper about my announcement and the fact that it fell on his first day of work at GMA .
My right wrist began the summer of 2012 bare and untanned, but then I was rummaging around my room and stumbled upon an old Livestrong bracelet I had taken off after my mom died of lung cancer six years earlier and figured that it was good a time as any to put it back on. So, I began my internship at ABC’s Good Morning America on June 11th with a Livestrong bracelet, an empty briefcase and not a clue what to expect.
I walked into the 66th Street headquarters at 9:30 a.m. that morning expecting some kind of welcoming committee or at least a place to put my stuff, but the girl who greeted me at the elevator seemed anxious and preoccupied and told me to sit in the office chair in the corner until everyone arrived.
Nobody came to talk to me, so I pulled out my phone and looked up the news, just in case anybody needed me to report a story or make a lunch reservation. It was the first thing that popped up. Breaking News. Robin Roberts, GMA co-anchor, has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome.
I absorbed what I was reading and looked up and into the newsroom, where it finally made sense. Robin had tearfully announced her diagnosis on air that morning after keeping it secret for a few months while she sorted out her new life. I looked back down at my phone to do some research on MDS, in case anybody needed me to report on it. Suddenly, everyone who has ever
I remember thinking, “Wow, here she is juggling her husband’s illness, being very active in the fund-raising and the research.” She believed with all of her heart that Christopher Reeve was going to walk again. He, too, was convinced he was going to walk again, and although it didn’t come true for him, it moved mountains for the spinal cord injury patients who benefit from his legacy.
I’ll never forget the first time I met Christopher Reeve. Even though he was in a chair, he had a larger-than-life presence. He was Superman in that chair. It was inspiring to see the joy with which Dana juggled the various roles in her life: caregiver of Chris, Will’s mom, media personality. She was also an actress and a cabaret singer. She was talented in so many ways.
We knew that Chris’s future was uncertain. But it was a shock when Dana, a nonsmoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer and died less than two years later. It was such a tragedy. I remember looking at Will, an orphan at thirteen, and thinking that he seemed so tiny to be facing such a monumental loss. I remember seeing the news coverage of Will at his mother’s memorial, with his older siblings. His hands were in his pockets and his head was down and I thought, “Oh, my gosh. Is he going to be okay?”
I always have such an affinity for the interns we have at GMA . They often reach out to me through my assistant, Sonny. So I have a lot of one-on-one meetings with the interns in my office. I also host a lunch for the interns every year, and I truly believe that I get as much as I give to them. The college students who come to work with us every summer are so creative and so energetic. I love the sparkle of infinite possibilities in their eyes. They are such bright lights, I know I’m going to be working for at least one of my former interns someday.
So I pay attention to the new faces on the studio floor. The moment I saw Will Reeve I thought, “Wow, he’s an Adonis. He’s such a wonderful combination of both his parents.” He is just this handsome, charismatic young man. He turned out okay. Better than okay. His parents did such a miraculous job with the limited time they had with him here on earth. Meeting him, you would not think he had any hardship in his life. Back at school that fall, Will wrote a paper about my announcement and the fact that it fell on his first day of work at GMA .
My right wrist began the summer of 2012 bare and untanned, but then I was rummaging around my room and stumbled upon an old Livestrong bracelet I had taken off after my mom died of lung cancer six years earlier and figured that it was good a time as any to put it back on. So, I began my internship at ABC’s Good Morning America on June 11th with a Livestrong bracelet, an empty briefcase and not a clue what to expect.
I walked into the 66th Street headquarters at 9:30 a.m. that morning expecting some kind of welcoming committee or at least a place to put my stuff, but the girl who greeted me at the elevator seemed anxious and preoccupied and told me to sit in the office chair in the corner until everyone arrived.
Nobody came to talk to me, so I pulled out my phone and looked up the news, just in case anybody needed me to report a story or make a lunch reservation. It was the first thing that popped up. Breaking News. Robin Roberts, GMA co-anchor, has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome.
I absorbed what I was reading and looked up and into the newsroom, where it finally made sense. Robin had tearfully announced her diagnosis on air that morning after keeping it secret for a few months while she sorted out her new life. I looked back down at my phone to do some research on MDS, in case anybody needed me to report on it. Suddenly, everyone who has ever