Friends, family, reporters and politicians are gathering Saturday morning in downtown Washington, D.C., to remember journalist Cokie Roberts.

Roberts died Tuesday at age 75, of complications from breast cancer. She had covered and commented on politics for NPR since 1978 and spent several decades working for ABC News as well, including several years co-hosting the Sunday morning political show This Week.

Erin Shibley and Chirag Rathod are parents to Miko the cat. "Miko Angelo. Miko Angelo's his full name. Miko for short," Rathod says.

It's dinner time, and the smell of paninis is wafting from the kitchen of their apartment in Blacksburg, Va. It smells delicious, especially to Miko, who takes it as a signal that it's his mealtime, too.

Cokie Roberts was fierce and funny, hard-nosed and kind-hearted. She was steeped in politics, as the daughter of two Louisiana pols, Hale and Lindy Boggs, and enjoyed the game. But she also elevated politics with her elegant reporting.

Cokie wasn't fooled by the blather of politicians, but also wasn't smug about journalism. We covered a few primaries and papal trips together, and Cokie used to caution young reporters with preconceptions, "Stories are so simple until you actually cover them."

Inspired by her father's passion for military service, Denise Baken joined the Army in 1975 at age 24, looking to follow in his footsteps.

But the retired colonel didn't realize how closely her father's experience in the military mirrored her own until she faced challenges — both as a woman and an African American — over her 28 years of service.

Nearly the moment Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson announced his plans to resign late last month, rumors and speculation started flying about whom Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp would appoint to fill the seat.

Isakson plans to leave the office he has held for nearly 15 years at the end of 2019 for health reasons.