Al Roker turns 70: Here’s the advice Oprah Winfrey gave him

Al Roker’s birthday is Tuesday, and he’s receiving some sage advice on turning 70 from an old friend: Oprah Winfrey.
During a filmed talk for the “Today” show, the legendary TV duo chatted about turning the big 7-0 over a tequila-Aperol-grapefruit beverage at the NBC broadcaster’s New York home.
“I was excited to make (70),” Winfrey, who also celebrated the same milestone this year, told Roker. “I’m excited to make every number. Because I remember many years ago as a young girl, I always thought that I would never make it to the 60s or 70s.”
She continued: “There is a sense of knowing there isn’t as much time left, and I am at peace with that knowing. There’s a sense of urgency for me about living well, living as strongly as I can.”
The former “Oprah Winfrey Show” host also told Roker that she “probably wouldn’t be here” had she stayed in the conditions she grew up in as a girl in Milwaukee, where she lived on welfare with her late mother, Vernita Lee.
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The pair also reflected on their health struggles and the joys of making it to 70 with Winfrey telling Roker, “What is amazing is that your heart has (been) pumpin’, pumpin’, pumpin’ for you for 69 solid years, almost getting you there to 70. And it’s been doing that right on time, just for you.”
In January last year, Roker returned to “Today” after briefly stepping away from the morning show while dealing with health complications and earlier this summer, Winfrey was forced to sit out an interview with author David Wroblewski on “CBS Mornings” in June due to a case of gastroenteritis, a stomach virus.
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“There is a sense of knowing there isn’t as much time left, and I am at peace with that knowing,” Winfrey told the weatherman. “There’s a sense of urgency for me about living well, living as strongly as I can.”
The pair opened up about the benefits of aging, with Roker adding that “age brings whoever you are into sharper relief.”
“I have aged into a form of myself that’s more wise, that is certainly stronger, that is more vibrant and aware and conscious than I’ve ever been,” Winfrey said, before Roker quipped, “70 is a number, but nothing to be worried about?”
Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff, Edward Segarra