My Oprah Story!

Yesterday was a great day! My boyfriend took his Mom to see Oprah:) I never thought we'd be able to get tickets for her, but it happened! I'm so thankful to everyone who helped make it possible.

The best way to describe why it meant so much, is to let you read part of the letter that my boyfriend wrote to Oprah:

Dear Ms. Winfrey,

I would like to thank you for giving my mother something to look forward to every day as long as I can remember. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 25 years ago and has been slowly approaching a state of near paralysis ever since. She was diagnosed shortly after I was born and quickly had my two younger brothers as soon as she found out because she was afraid the disease may prohibit her from having more children in the future.

About 10 years ago the disease got the best of her physical strength and she became confined to a bed. We are able to get her out of the room in her wheel chair for a few hours a day and out of the house about once a week, but she has a hard time with it. Since she is in bed all day, there is not much she can do other than watch TV. She is often alone for 3-4 hours at a time so she is stuck watching only one channel because she cannot change the channel on her own. Every morning before we leave we ask her what channel she would like to watch, and without hesitation, she says Channel 7 every time. She does not care for anything on TV other than your show; in fact, she probably could not tell you another program that airs on Channel 7.

Because of her condition and being confined to a room for most her life, her mind is beginning to slip and she has trouble remembering things. Multiple Sclerosis does not directly affect the mind but it does have an indirect affect. While some days are better than others, no matter how "out of it she is", she can always tell us when and what channel "Oprah" is on. There are days she could not tell you who the current president is, what year it is, or even when her sons birthdays are, but what she can tell you is every guest you had on your show for the entire week and in what order. I am truly grateful she has you to help keep her mind sharp and keep her entertained while we are not around.

I forwarded the letter to my friends to see if they had any "Oprah" connections who could help us get his Mom to a taping of the show. I was shocked at how many people stepped forward to try and help! Turns out my friend has a friend...who's brother has a friend....(are you still with me?? ha) ...who works at The Oprah Store. He won 2 tickets in the staff lottery and selflessly gave them up for my boyfriend and his Mom! Parker, I know we have never met, but thank you so much for your generosity!

Yesterday was the big taping. My boyfriend picked up his Mom and brought her downtown for the show. I went and met them outside the studio to take a picture of them before they went inside (no camera's allowed inside!). As I was leaving, some kind man asked me why I wasn't going with them to the show. When I told him that we only had two tickets, he disappeared and told me to wait there. When he came back, he somehow got me on a standby list and I got into the show too! He said, "she'd want you to be there with her too". It was so incredibly sweet of this stranger to take the time to do something like that!

I got to sit right next to my boyfriend and his Mom at the show. She was thrilled to be there and it was really fun seeing her so happy! Thanks so much to all the people who helped make this happen.

You've inspired me, Chicago;)