The year 2024 shook Somara Theodore to her core. The ABC News meteorologist lost her sister, Simone, ended her marriage, and was forced to relocate—all within a short, painful window of time.
“I had to take care of my sister, who was sick with cancer. We buried her a few weeks after that. I had to go to court to get divorced, and then a week after that, I moved into a new place,” she recalls of the whirlwind period.
After enduring so much loss in such a short span, Theodore did her best to pick up the pieces. She dedicated herself to protecting her little sister. So when Simone, who learned of her cancer diagnosis in 2023, passed away, it left a deep emotional void. A hole in her heart, as she describes it.
“I would make sure everything was good with her the same way a parent would, but I know deep down what she wanted and what she needed was a sister,” she recalls. “My fear of her getting hurt, or my fear of her not surviving, for whatever reason, trumped just being in the moment and being the sister she needed.”
So Simone’s death brought an immense grief—and a complicated sense of remorse.
“Watching her succumb to her illness left me with a survivor’s guilt,” she shares. “You do wish so bad that you could just give them your life. Sometimes, there were moments where I would think as a kid, if I could just take my sister’s soul and put it in my body.”
Still, even in that pain, her community reminded her she didn’t have to grieve alone.
“When we had to plan my sister’s funeral, I could not believe the outpouring of support I got from all my friends around me,” she says. “Having a village is what carried me when I couldn’t carry myself.” It was a reminder that she was worthy of care, too. For someone used to carrying others, learning to receive support was no easy task.
“I am absolutely not a person who finds it easy to be carried. I’m like, put me down, I can walk,” Theodore admits. “It is hard to relinquish that independence. It’s hard to acknowledge that you just don’t have it all right now.”
But that acknowledgement, and that community, opened the door to healing, comfort, and unexpected joy. In the midst of her grief and following her divorce, Theodore reconnected with a close friend—Nelson—who is now her partner.
“We met in college, and we were just acquaintances over the years,” she explains. But their bond deepened at a time she wasn’t expecting. “Going through a divorce in your early 30s is certainly not necessarily what you have on the docket when you do get married, but I can say it’s a learning experience,” she says. “We can’t change the past, but we can certainly change the way we view the past, and that has been integral in my maintaining a new, healthy relationship.”
Letting go of control hasn’t come easily—but it has served her well. “He is someone who challenges me every day in the best ways,” she says of their relationship. And now, out of that tumultuous year, comes a new beginning: the couple is preparing to welcome their first child.
While she and Nelson are building a life together, she’s in no rush to get married again. Their foundation of friendship and love, she says, is strong enough.
“Divorce has changed my perspective on marriage,” she says. “I find it to be very sacred, and very holy, and I know that I want to take my time. When I get married again, I want it to be a celebration of a confirmation of commitment already made and done. So, I look forward to continuing to grow and build with the father of my child in the coming years and enjoying this new journey that we’re on together into parenthood.”
She’s also embracing the joyful rituals of preparing for baby: crocheting tiny booties, resting when needed, and envisioning all the ways she’ll pass down her Trinidadian culture and heritage.
“They have described it as a love that’s indescribable,” she says of friends’ insights on motherhood. “I’m just really excited to kind of usher in my culture to the next generation. I cannot wait to put my child in a little Carnival costume and play mas.”
The hole left by her sister’s passing may never completely fade—but now, it lives alongside joy. Her heart, she says, has room for both.
“I am looking forward to my heart just expanding, growing, and feeling this new love that I didn’t know was possible.”
Credits
Stylist: Emari Campbell
Somara’s top and bottom: Tommy Girl
Shoe: Mark Gong
Nelson’s top: Lafaurie
Pants: Kidsupe
Photographer: Simo Motsa – The City Unlimited