Thanks For Being Here - Poppy Harlow's 80th Birthday Letter to her Mom

Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Kelly Corrigan Show

Society & Culture

4.9 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As part of our Women of Consequence series, journalist Poppy Harlow sits down with Kelly to read a letter she wrote to her mother Mary, who is turning 80. There is so much in this letter — the leap to Sweden, the PhD, the art museum trips — but what stops you cold is the part about what Mary did when the love of her life died and her children still needed dinner on the table and someone to say it was all going to be okay. That's the one. That's the woman worth knowing more about. Here's to Mary Harlow, and to all the moms who hold it together long after they've earned the right to fall apart. This episode has been made possible by a grant from Ingeborg Initiatives, a social impact platform dedicated to improving maternal health and making it easier to raise a family. To learn more, please visit: ingeborginitiatives.com https://www.ingeborginitiatives.com/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Thanks for being here, a short weekly pod to remind us of the many
0:05.4	essential and beautiful ways we affect one another. Every Sunday, I'll read a submission from a
0:12.1	listener of Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Could be wedding vows or a bat mitzvah toast, a eulogy, or
0:17.3	retirement speech. We believe this is probably the loveliest way to tap into our better
0:22.8	selves and remember our highest values. We encourage you to share this podcast each week with one
0:29.1	person you love. Maybe someone you miss and need to bring closer, someone you want to feel
0:34.5	your appreciation or admiration or both. This is thanks for being here.
0:47.4	This week's thanks for being here comes from a new friend of mine. Her name is Poppy Harlow. You know
0:52.6	her from CNN where she anchored CNN this morning.
0:56.5	She was at the network for almost 20 years, and she has turned over a bit of a new leaf, and I don't
1:02.9	know if we're allowed to talk about it yet. So I'll just leave it there and say that she is sharing,
1:08.7	thanks for being here, about a woman of great consequence in her life.
1:12.6	Here is Poppy Harlow.
1:14.2	Thanks, Kelly.
1:15.8	Dear Mom, I'm writing this letter as you approach your 80th birthday.
1:20.5	I've been thinking a lot about how much of who I am is because of you.
1:25.2	And as I write this, I realize there is a never-ending list of gifts you've
1:29.3	given me. But here are the six biggest things you've taught me. First, leap. Early in your career,
1:37.3	you lived abroad in Sweden for four years, teaching professional ballet, teaching English, and in the
1:43.3	off-season, traveling across Europe and Africa.
1:46.4	You were bold and unafraid, wide-eyed about the world around you. I have no doubt that your
1:52.3	example is a big part of why our family moved to France two years ago with our two young children.
	...

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