Cupid is really working to make me come around this Valentine’s Day, I can tell. I usually suggest a séance for V-Day, but I keep watching the couple’s featured in People’s first Love issue and now I’m feeling all smooshy inside. The second couple featured is Al Roker and Deborah Roberts. Like Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, they have also been married for 25 years. They have two children together, Leila and Nicholas, and Al’s daughter, Courtney, with his second wife Alice Bell. Among the ways they keep their romance alive is that Al leaves Deborah love notes all over their home, in her purse and in her suitcases when she travels.
After 25 years of marriage, Al Roker still loves romancing his wife Deborah Roberts.
“He does things like he sprinkles little love notes, little cards throughout my life,” Roberts, 60, says of the longtime Today co-host during a recent Zoom interview for PEOPLE’s first-ever Love Issue.
Jokes Roker, 66: “Who knew?”
“Who knew?” adds Roberts, ABC News’ senior national affairs correspondent who reports for 20/20, Good Morning America, Nightline and ABC World News Tonight with David Muir.
In the mornings, “sometimes there’s a little card next to the coffee maker that might say something encouraging or sweet or impish or fun,” says Roberts, sitting close to the NBC weather anchor after their cover photo shoot at Manhattan’s Crosby Street Hotel.
His swoon-worthy gestures aren’t just reserved for home, though. “When I travel, I open my suitcase and I find one or two notes in there that he’s slipped in, or in my purse.
‘Have a great day. I’m thinking of you.’ Or an Emily Dickinson sonnet or something,” she says.
“And I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It just touches me. And he thinks that way all the time. He’s a real romantic,” says Roberts.
Deborah said she loves the notes but in addition to those, Al calls her a few times a day to check in. Al said when he was growing up, his dad used to call his mom to ask about her day during his breaks at work. So Al saw this as something husbands do. The only problem is, the constant interruptions are not Deborah’s favorite. She’d rather wait and have a catch-up at the end of the day. But she’s learning to just take a moment and appreciate that he cares enough to check in. It reminds me of that Five Love Languages book and learning each other’s languages. As Deborah said, those calls, “mean something to him at that moment… He needs to hear my voice and I appreciate that.”
You can watch their video here. I found it quite relatable. It’s clear how much they respect and adore each other. But they acknowledge all the other parts of marriage, like the fact that overall your spouse is your favorite person, but there are moments you are fed up with them. And just like Deborah accepting that making the phone calls was more important to Al than they were annoying to her, you adjust and grow together. While Deborah praised Al being a romantic with his love notes, on the video, she acknowledged that it was easy to claim “romance and that will get us through.” What she credits much of her marriage to is “just showing up.” She called her determination to keep going a “decision.” This made a lot of sense to me. Being in love is the motivation to show up, but it’s the decision to show up on both your parts that makes the relationship last.
Oh my goodness, look at this beautiful couple!
I stopped by for the black love. It’s always a “yes” for me.
I can’t decide whether I am to emotionally distant or if Al is too emotionally needy. Either way, it’s a big no from me. Do not interrupt my day with a running commentary of your own day, thanks.
Those check in hit a little different now with Al going through treatments for cancer.
I think the gesture, and others reactions to it, really depend on 1) the people who receive it and 2) the intentions behind it.
Like some people, I would be annoyed at the interruption multiple times a day. Others may not be. To each their own, as they say.
But I think we also have to consider the intent behind the gesture, which we don’t often do in this society. While I don’t suspect Al Roker of this, some men do things like this for control, not love.
So I think we have to be careful what kind of signal we send girls and young women. Control and stalking is not romantic and we need to teach women the difference.
To each their own, but it would annoy the hell out of me. Unless it’s an emergency, tell me when you get home. Also, I’m not a phone person and if your call could have been a text message I will be annoyed, lol
There is a definite finesse to balancing a quick call, a text, a ‘we have to talk’, and dinner conversation…
My husband sometimes does this, and it isn’t my thing. He’ll call me to say he just thought of something we might need to think about doing in the house, or to tell me something he just heard on the radio on the way to work, or to ask how I am, etc. I don’t mind it but I don’t know why he needs to do it at that moment instead of waiting until we get home. It’s just how he and his family work. They are always checking in with each other. My family wasn’t like that. So if I’m being honest, it does get on my nerves a little bit, but not enough to make an issue of it. It’s apparently important to him.
ugh, I used to dread the lunchtime call from my husband- I’d have to stop my mental break from my work day to talk about useless stuff. We texted through the day, and that was great, but the call was something I couldn’t ever learn to like. Now that we both work from home, that isn’t an issue. Being around him 24/7 is great, but not having to talk to him on the phone is even better.
They’re cute
I wish I had a romantic man like him. My ex husband wasn’t romantic at all.
It’s annoying a hell to me. No shade. No shade. But my significant other calls me several times a day at work and I hate it. I just bite my tongue and try to get off the phone quickly. I’m glad to see Deb feels the same way.
I’ve been married for about 22 years and from day one my husband will call me multiple times during the day. A lot of it has to do with the fact that he works out of state and will be gone for long periods of time and with time differences calling me during the day is the only way we’ll connect. It’s taken me years to get used to it (sometimes it still bugs me) and my co-workers frequently tease me about it but I’m finding that after 22 years if I don’t hear from him then I worry that something happened.
What a beautiful family!
I get worried if I don’t hear a thing from my fiancé all day. Sometimes he’s super busy and it happens. Other times, things are slow for both of us, and we’ll chat a few times during the day. On average, at least a few texts is our norm.
I love it!!
My husband calls me around 10am to see how my day is going or to complain about his (LOL)
and again at around 3p to confirm the time he is leaving and we discuss dinner plans/or what we are eating that night.
I love their family!
I love Al! And this seems good intentioned on his part! I wish my husband would check in during the day. Even to let me know he is running late. But he made it clear that my expectation of him to do that is needy and “not him” so I’m just trying to get used to it. I’m definitely on the codependent side and he is an individualist to his core. I try to respect that and not take it personally because we are just different. But it’s hard! Ladies if you have a dude that checks in and wants to hear about your day or hear from you (as long as it’s not controlling) please be grateful! I feel like that’s better than being ignored allll day.
I once asked a male friend what he would do if his wife called him every day while he was at work. “I’d tell her to call her side piece,” he joked. Once a day would be too much. Several times? Al’s too needy. Maybe a quick text or two to check in.
My husband does a lot of driving around for work so he calls me multiple times throughout the day (hands free, we are safe!). He just likes to chat while he drives. But I have no issue telling him to call some else to entertain him if I don’t feel like talking on the phone or am busy. And he doesn’t take it personally. Just hangs up and calls someone else. It would be annoying if I felt obligated to chat.
It is sweet. It would annoy me though. I’m glad it works for them.
Awww! So nice to hear about couples in love. I say, whatever works for them! Would drive me nuts but that’s the cool thing about partnership – it’s so individual.
That’s sweet. My husband and I also speak a few times per day by phone. It started when we were dating and just never quit.