Robin

Robin Reborn

The joy, the fears, the tears and the gutsy, go-for-it philosophy of Robin Roberts ‌ told in 16 personal photographs

BY MEG G RA N T / PH OTO G RAPH BY JE FF LIPS KY

28 AARP THE MAGAZINE / Real Possibilities

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d for obin Roberts is crying. I have arrive full our interview with an album packed of images from the remarkable life of od the 54-year-old coanchor of ABC’s Go ment, Morning America, and, to my amaze t photo, her tears from the moment Roberts sees the firs th a soon-to-be flow freely. She dabs at the stream wi ticulating and shardrenched tissue, while laughing, ges hopes for the future. ing her very personal memories and

self came out as gay in a late-2013 Roberts is the first to admit she social media tribute to her longtime never dreamed she’d come so far, so partner, Amber Laign, 39, a licensed fast, overcoming so much adversity massage therapist. along the way. The youngest child Devoutly Christian, she called in a close-knit family headed by upon her faith to help her endure Lucimarian Tolliver and Colonel chemotherapy and radiation for Lawrence E. Roberts (both now breast cancer, which Roberts was deceased), she grew up in what was diagnosed with in 2007. And in then-segregated Pass Christian, g 2012, she learned she was sufferin Mississippi. A gifted student, she was ed call ase from a bone marrow dise also a standout player on the wommyelodysplastic syndrome, related n en’s basketball team at Southeaster to her earlier cancer treatments. Her d Louisiana University. She graduate oldest sister, Sally-Ann, proved to with a degree in communications— be her bone marrow match, and and was inducted into the Women’s Roberts was successfully treated Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. with a transplant in September of She began her professional cathat year. Her bravery in coping reer as a local radio and TV sports n publicly with her illnesses has bee anchor, then landed a position as a a with g udin incl ed, gniz widely reco sportscaster with ESPN in 1990. In N’s ESP and 2 201 in rd Awa y Peabod 2005, she was named coanchor of 3.

Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 201 her re whe a, eric Good Morning Am at Today, wearing a hot-pink swe popularity soared when she openjacket emblazoned with the word ly wept on the air while covering “Blessed” across the front, Roberts the devastation of her hometown is both grateful and optimistic.

by Hurricane Katrina. In 2012, she When I ask mid-interview, as her landed a historic interview with g tears continue to flow, if she’s doin President Barack Obama, during le: smi a OK, she answers with which he announced his support of n “Doing great. This is really lovely.” same-sex marriage; Roberts her-

Family Ties 1966 You’re starting with my favorite. This is how I envision my family, though my parents are now deceased, and I get so woo-woo.

[Begins to cry.] I think of myself as that little girl who’s scratching herself; my mom kept saying, “Stop scratching.” I’m, like, “Why do you have me in a dress? I hate being in a dress.” Dorothy [Dorothy Roberts McEwen] is a bit older, and Sally-Ann [Sally-Ann Roberts] is the big sister. Then there’s my big brother, Butch [Lawrence E. Roberts Jr.]. This was right before we left for Izmir, Turkey. My dad was in the Army, and when I was this age I would pick up the phone and answer, “Colonel Roberts’ quarters. Robin speaking.”

My dad was, like, “No, honey, this is our home.” But I truly loved everything about my dad’s being in the military.

Taking Flight

2003 This was taken in November 2003.

Less than a year later, my father passed away. Good Morning America had said to me, “If you could do anything, what would that be?” My father was from the famed Tuskegee Airmen. I said, “I want to fly a plane like my dad did.” Now, I didn’t mean I actually wanted to fly a plane that he flew! But we went back to the Tuskegee Army Airfield, and this old thing comes chugging down the runway. I’m, like, “I’m getting in that?” I was wearing my dad’s old bombardier jacket. My father was not boisterous at all, but he was so excited. It was very special to honor my father and the fellow airmen. And aviation is my second love. If broadcasting hadn’t worked out, I wanted to be a pilot.

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My Mentor

Body Block

g to Home Reportin Close

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er Court No Place Like Cent 1998 Oh, gosh! Geno Auriemma [head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team]. Just look at that blazer I’m wearing. The Women’s National Basketball Association started in 1997, and this was the second year I did play-by-play announcing for ESPN with Geno, and this really gets me reminiscing. I look at this, and this was not working for a living. I said the entire time that I was in sports, especially at ESPN: I never worked a day in my life. I mean, look at the joy, and people were even saying that when they saw me. Don’t get me wrong—I am incredibly appreciative and love what I do at Good Morning America. But there is something when people see me in this arena that it’s just like butter. [Laughs.]

2005 Covering Hurricane Katrina was a real moment for me, personally and professionally. On the air, I broke down and cried when Charlie Gibson asked about my family. I had just found my mother and sister within the hour. They hadn’t been able to evacuate because my mom was ill. The family house was damaged, but they were fine. After the broadcast, I remember taking my earpiece out and thinking, “I don’t have a job anymore.” Because it was a time when you didn’t show emotion like that.

Coach Pat 2011 Oh, sweet Pat [Summitt].

Wow! We both have had a journey, haven’t we? Pat was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2011.

I keep in touch, and she has more good days than not. I had always wanted to be a Lady Vol under her at the University of Tennessee, but, thinking about it, we probably wouldn’t have the friendship we have now if I’d been her player. I’ve got her back. And I love that she’s got a hashtag: #WeBackPat.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video from our Robin Roberts photo shoot at aarp.org/magazine.

PAGE 28: PRODUCER: LOVELY GIANT PRODUCTIONS; HAIRSTYLIST: PETULA SKEETE; MAKEUP ARTIST: ELENA GEORGE; WARDROBE STYLIST: DIANDRE TRISTAN; SET DESIGN: SARAH SMART. PROP CREDITS AND REMAINING PHOTO CREDITS ON PAGE 85

1979 I was probably a freshman at Southeastern Louisiana University in this shot. We were playing in the old arena; you can see we packed the stands. [Laughs.] No one is there, Lady Lions! I was very, very aggressive.

During one game, I kind of shoved—no, I punched—an opposing player. There was this collective gasp, because I was such a nice person. But I was just overtaken by the moment.

I liked that I could be aggressive on the court— don’t mess with me—but when I stepped off, I was a perfect lady.

2005 Thelma and Louise!

This was from a bowling segment. Diane [Sawyer] is not very good in sports [laughs], and I was telling her, “Just keep your elbows right here.” The greatest gift I could’ve received making the transition from sports to news was this woman. She just embraced me.

I was coming into a totally different arena.

My knees were knocking. She could have been dismissive, and all she did was be gracious.

The Sisters Three

Oh, Brother!

2006 I’m so happy. My big brother doesn’t get a lot of attention—he’s always, like, “Remind people that you have a brother.” He went off to college when I was in the first grade, so it’s hard to remember him in our home growing up. But I love this photograph.

He came by the studio, and he was just beaming. Butch is a schoolteacher in Houston. He graduated from Rutgers with a major in English but then got into finance.

When his company downsized 10 years or so ago, he was, like, “What am I doing? I went to school to be a teacher.” And he’s been such a strong role model for a lot of students, to see an African American man in the classroom.

He teaches high school English, he coaches, and he’s very involved in the students’ lives.

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Freedom to Be 2008 This was at Isaac Mizrahi’s show during New York Fashion Week. It was just a whim. You can’t see it, but there was a mirror where we turned onto the runway. I had on my trusty wig that I had been wearing on the air. A model had gone out in front of me. I’m thinking, “That’s not fair. Wait until gravity sets in, honey. Oh, you look good now! ” And I’m not feeling so good about myself because I’d just completed chemotherapy [for breast cancer] and was about to begin radiation. I remember rounding the corner and seeing the mirror and going, “Uh-uh. No,” and taking off the wig. I went out there and was just so happy. It was freeing.

2013 I always thought Dorothy [below, center] was going to be my bone marrow match, because we’re closer in age and have more similarities. But if Dorothy, an artist who was my mother’s main caretaker at the time, had been my match, it never would have happened.

Sally-Ann [below, right], who’s a TV anchor in New Orleans, just knew she was it. She put her swab in the test tube and looked at me like, “It’s done.” I knew at the time that it’s only a 3 out of 10 chance that a family member will be a match.

Everyone thinks it’s a virtual automatic. It’s a gift to have siblings who each have a role and accept our role. We’re very spiritual, and I truly believe everything happens for a reason and purpose, and there was a purpose why Dorothy wasn’t my match and Sally-Ann was.

2012 This was at my mom’s book signing for My Story, My Song, the memoir she and I published in 2012.

Shortly after, she had a stroke, and she died in late 2012. You know, there’s no one that looks at you like your mom, no one more excited to hear your voice. I could hang up the phone with her, call her right back, and she would be like I hadn’t talked to her in two weeks.

“Oh! Hello, Robin!” With joy. She shined that day, with friends and relatives for a good old-fashioned tea in an old antebellum home in the Pass [Pass Christian, Mississippi]. My sister Dorothy sang, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long,” and my mother referred to all her children as the loves of her life. Ooh! No disrespect to my father.

Love s r ’ e Moth

Moment in History

Amber and Me

2012 Oh, I had my power suit on! But when I look at this picture, I see something so different from what other people see. Yes, for the president of the United States of America to change his stance on marriage equality, that was huge. And to be the person across from him asking that question! But see the little look on my face? I’m reacting to my producer on the side, who’s just held up one of those blue cards. I was guessing the sign was going to say, “You rock!” Instead, it says, “Lipstick on teeth!” As my mama used to say, “When you strut, you stumble.”

2014 She looks so much better in this picture than I do. It was my 50th-birthday celebration, and Amber [Laign] had heard me moaning and groaning about some kind of party. I’d told her all I wanted to do was dance on the beach. We were on Turks and Caicos. She set the whole thing up—a dance floor on the beach—as a surprise.

But then it rained. Still, I was just thrilled that she heard me. With Amber and me there’s no fuss. We’re so happy.

We’ve been happily in a relationship for 10 years and are looking forward to the next 10 after that.

2014 This is at Sally-Ann’s daughter’s wedding last year. Dorothy’s there [far left]—she wasn’t dating anyone at the time—and Sally-Ann and her husband, my brother and his wife, and me and Amber. We released this picture not to make any kind of statement about me and Amber. But so many people commented, “You and Amber look normal.”

I’m like, “We are normal!” I’m lucky that my family has always been very accepting. All they wanted was for good people to be in our lives.

lles Wedding Be 2013 This was my trial run before I returned to the show after my transplant.

My doctor had said, “You need to go in and do a dry run first.” And I was thinking, “Son, you know how long I’ve been doing this? I don’t need any practice.”

Oh, he was so right. I was so exhausted from this day, and I wasn’t even on the air. Just the emotion of seeing people who I know didn’t think they were going to see me again. Some people were, like, why were you in such a hurry to get back? It wasn’t about being back on TV. It was about being back in life. I could’ve stayed longer in an isolated room, but I didn’t want life to continue to pass me by. I wanted to participate in life. Put me in, Coach.

I’m ready to play.

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Back in

the Game

Here, Now

2014 I think of September 20, the date of my transplant, as my birthday more than my real birthday, on November 23. I don’t try to be like people who have had life-threatening illnesses and say, “Every day is a gift.”

But everything that happens from now on is lagniappe, as we say in the Gulf.