Oprah!

Today Oprah started her Farewell Season. I cried & cried. This isn't anything new for me... I cry when Oprah is happy, sad & when she's giving things away. Today I bawled. I am just so sad it's going to be over. I am so sad that Molly won't grow up with Oprah the way I did. I never really stopped to think of how she has changed my life, but she has. An hour a day, since I was 5, when my mom first started to watch... until I was old enough to watch it myself.

My mom taped Oprah on our VHS Machine. My dad worked away so I understand now why mom taped the show. She wanted to wait until we were in bed so she could watch it, uninterrupted. I actually remember waking up & going downstairs where my mom was watching Oprah & doing the ironing. I curled up on the couch & watched with her. I don't remember what the show was about, but I remember my mom was so happy, ironing late at night. And I remember the smell of the steaming iron & that I was so happy she was letting me stay up.

When 9/11 happened I remember her first show back on the air. I don't remember how she said it, but she put the message out there that 24/7 coverage of negative news events aren't good & that it would do us all good to TURN OFF THE TV for a while & take a break. I remember to do that now. I don't need to be bombarded with images of earthquakes and war 24/7. While it's good to be informed, taking a break will minimize the shell shock. We need to be affected by these events. But we need to take away a message and not an image. This idea has served me so well in many parts of my life... it's about perspective, it's about positivity & it's about the value of life.

Thanks Oprah.