My Oprah Story

I truly feel that I am in denial that the Oprah Show is over. It has been such a big part of my daily routine via TIVO. I tried to think about how much I have learned, but I am probably not aware of how much that has been. It has made me wonder if I would have been able to stay married or handled my life as a step mom. I wonder if I could have been as good of a friend or if I would have been as aware of the hardships and wonders of others. In honor of the end of an era, I wanted to share my two ‘Oprah’ stories.

In 1995, I was on Oprah. I had always told my children that one day, I would talk about them and tell the world about the bad things they had done. It was my daily threat: “That’s fine. Just do that, but I’m telling you, when I get on Oprah, I’m going to tell the world.” That day came. I was able to get tickets to Oprah and decided to take my Mom to Chicago to celebrate her 60th birthday. Along with my Mom, I attended the show with my stepdaughter and my cousin. Needless to say, we were thrilled to be there. We had no idea what the theme of the show was going to be. The producer comes out and announces that the theme of the show is: “No one should divorce under any circumstances and that stepfamilies cannot work”. We all thought: “Is this a joke?” There we were in all of our blended-family glory!

Next thing I know, the producer says to me, “Take the mike!” and ushers me to a microphone that had been placed in the aisle. The music starts and they introduce Oprah. Oprah starts to introduce her guest and then says, “I think I want to talk to this woman over here before I introduce anyone”. I now know that that moment was a foreshadowing of the future. Oprah and I had a discussion about divorce and about stepfamilies. That conversation continued several times throughout the show. We shared a few private comments as well. After the show, one of the producers said to me, “If you have any other thoughts or ideas, we would be interested”. I was touched and thrilled, but was a working mom and step mom and my priorities was to get those kids raised. My moment of fame was left there.

Years later, while on a business trip, I brought along my O magazine and started reading a column by Dr. Martha Beck. The column was about weight loss and it was written with such compassion, strength, insight, and wisdom. I immediately knew that I had to meet Martha Beck and talk to her about my thoughts about becoming a life coach. When I googled her name, I found that Dr. Beck had a life coach training program. It was then that I began a journey that would define my life purpose. I studied with Dr. Beck and proudly became a certified Martha Beck life coach. Her teachings have brought me a personal peace and a clear construct upon which to take my clients. It all started with Oprah.

So, when the final show started to air, I asked a girlfriend of mine to come over and watch with me. We cracked open a bottle of wine and toasted Oprah. All the best, girlfriend.