Ann Curry Opens up About How Her Family Has Supported Her Passion for Traveling

In the new issue of Closer Weekly, Ann Curry opens up about how she was able to follow her passion as a reporter by having full support from her husband, Brian Ross, and children, McKenzie and Walker, when it comes to her traveling. Ann has traveled the world throughout her career, at times risking her safety to venture into such countries as Pakistan and Iran.

The newswoman waited until daughter McKenzie and son Walker, now 25 and 22, respectively, were a certain age before she took on those assignments, but she still questioned if the risk was worth the reward. “I’d come home,” she tells Closer, “and the signs on the door of our apartment would read, ‘Welcome back, Mom! Thanks for saving the world!’”

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Now, having largely been off the airwaves since her tearful 2012 exit from Today, Ann is eager to return to TV in December with her six-part PBS series We’ll Meet Again, which features the impactful stories that have always been her passion. “I was looking for a wonderful way to do meaningful journalism,” Ann tells Closer. “That’s what this is.”

And like old times, her husband and their children will be cheering her on. “He was incredibly supportive in helping my kids understand [my absences],” Ann says. “He’d say, ‘I know we miss Mom, but she’s fulfilling her life’s purpose, so shouldn’t we support her?’”

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“It’s a rough road, no doubt about it, the physical challenges of being a mother and working full-time,” she tells Closer. “But I’ve always known that my top priority was my children. They are the job that I was not going to fail.”

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In fact, her career has only served to make them more well-rounded and empathetic people. Recalling a call home from war-torn Kosovo during the Balkan crisis in 1999, Ann still gets emotional about the concern her son and daughter — who were very young at the time — showed for those who were suffering. “I’d felt bad for being away from [them],” Ann says, fighting back tears, “but I saw that there was value in this work. I recognized that children perhaps learn more from what you do than what you say.”

For more on Ann pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for exclusive news!