Molly Shannon Shares The Loss Of Parent in Memoir

On Monday’s (April 11th) episode of the Today show, Molly Shannon and Carson Daly each shared what it was like to lose a parent as a child. In her new memoir, Hello Molly!, Shannon details the loss of her mother in a car accident when she was just four years old.

As Daly interviewed Shannon, he shared that he also lost his father when he was only five years old to bladder cancer. “My whole adult life I’ve tried to figure out what impact did that have on my life now, my mental health and everything else,” he said. Then he asked Shannon how she came to a place of gratitude, as he read in her book.

Shannon was emotional when she responded, “That part makes me a little sad, but I think when you lose a parent when you’re so young, you have such a sense of how precious life is, and a kind of urgency. I think that makes me appreciative of people being alive, and time with people, and just appreciating the time on earth we do have with people.”