Amanda Kloots has found reasons to celebrate following the death of late husband Nick Cordero.
During a panel conversation Wednesday with Kelly Rizzo — who also lost her husband, Bob Saget — the Talk co-host, 40, told PEOPLE that she’s adopted a new tradition of marking Cordero’s birthday on the anniversary of his death.
“The most beautiful thing in the world happened last year. It was the worst day. It was almost like, it felt like the day actually again. I laid in bed, and I cried my eyes for the good half of the day,” she recounted. “And then my girlfriend called me, and she was like, ‘Oh my God, I had the most amazing dream of Nick.’ ”
In the dream, Cordero was “so happy and so smiley” because it was his birthday — “the one day I get to come back on earth and celebrate everybody,” he said in the vision.
“And she told me that dream and in an instant, I completely reframed his death day as his new birthday. And I instantly got out of bed,” she continued. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, if Nick is celebrating this day, then Elvis and I need to always celebrate this day as his new birthday and that he is still with us and he will always be with us.’ ”
“And this doesn’t have to be a day where I cry my eyes out. This can be a day where I get a cake and we sing happy new birthday to dad. So I think that definitely will become a tradition for us,” Kloots explained.
Kloots shares 2½-year-old son Elvis Eduardo with Cordero, who died of complications with COVID-19 in July 2020, following a months-long hospitalization with the virus. He was 41.
The Dancing with the Stars alum previously struck up a friendship with Rizzo, 42, who also lost her husband when Saget died in January at age 65 due to head trauma.
“New friends in a club we didn’t ever think we’d be in. So grateful to now know this strong woman, sharing stories only helps this rollercoaster we are on,” Kloots wrote on Instagram, to which Rizzo commented: “If I’m going to be in this club, I’m grateful to have genuine caring people like you by my side.”
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