Growing Up With The Oprah Winfrey Show: My "To Oprah With Love"

The Oprah Winfrey Show is in its final days of airing. And yes, I am watching. This fact is only noteworthy because I have not made "The Oprah Winfrey Show" part of my daily must-see TV schedule for the better part of the last five years. I was opting instead to re-watch highlights online and subscribe to her "O" magazine.

In fact, if it were not for an injured shoulder that has me working from home, I probably would have missed her farewell shows altogether. And wouldn't that have been a shame. Because there is no other person, or perhaps better said, personality, that has so significantly impacted who I am today.

You see, I grew up with Oprah. Every day at 4 o'clock, she would appear on my television screen, so full of life, so personable, I felt as if she were talking directly to me. After school during my junior high and high school days, then through college, and beyond into my 20s, Oprah's words of strength and wisdom were often a beacon of hope and clarity I soaked up amidst a somewhat dysfunctional home life.

It's pretty powerful when you think about it. That a person who you have never met could have had such an impact on your life. To know with such definition and clarity that if you had not heard such words or advice, or message, that your life would have taken a different course of action.

So what has been some of that impact? Well, in the words of Miss Winfrey, here is some of "What I Know For Sure:"

I know that I strive to live the most authentic life possible because Oprah introduced that idea on her show. I've learned how to forgive myself (and others) for past mistakes by remembering, "learn better, do better." Miss Oprah introduced me to Maya Angelou, who I was inspired enough to go hear speak at a luncheon where she recited her famous, "Woman's Work." Dr. Phil's 10 Life Lessons helped me get refocused in the very murky decade of my 20s. Oprah also has called me to think about the power of gratitude and how the simple words of "thank-you" can often be enough. And lastly, she always has me asking myself, "what is the lesson?" even in my darkest hours.

These are just a few of the many ways that Oprah has guided me to a higher sense of self. I do not give her credit for the work itself. But I definitely say thank you for opening me up to new ways of thinking about complex or emotional problems I was struggling with at the time.

She has undoubtedly been a cultural icon of our time. And while she will go on to new successes and adventures on her OWN, it won't be the same as The Oprah Winfrey Show. And really, that is the way it should be. You can't go back and recapture lightning in a bottle.

Here's to you, Oprah. I wish you all the best.