{"id":1905,"date":"2011-05-25T17:55:51","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T21:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=1905"},"modified":"2011-05-25T18:02:35","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T22:02:35","slug":"farewell-and-thanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=1905","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye Oprah!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Goodbye and Thanks&#8230; Oprah!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/20110524-tows-oprah-finale-promo-9-430x330.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1906\" title=\"20110524-tows-oprah-finale-promo-9-430x330\" src=\"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/20110524-tows-oprah-finale-promo-9-430x330.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"430\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/20110524-tows-oprah-finale-promo-9-430x330.jpg 430w, http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/20110524-tows-oprah-finale-promo-9-430x330-300x230.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/><\/a>As I am sure many you did&#8230; I grew up watching The Oprah Show. \u00a0I was just a teenager&#8230; and this was something my brother and I did together.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I learned so much from this show, just like so many others. \u00a0Over the years, I stopped watching with regularity&#8230; due to the busyness of life and at some point, just didn&#8217;t get into it over the last decade as she changed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Yet&#8230; I have this soft spot in my heart for the show. \u00a0To me, it really was life changing. \u00a0I can remember exactly were I was, how the room looked as I watched Oprah and learned that my mom was a battered woman. \u00a0I learned that life didn&#8217;t have to be that way. \u00a0I learned that there was a way out. \u00a0It was a life changing moment for me as I realized that I could have a good life with out the fear and pain. \u00a0It was a goal I had very early on.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The other thing that I learned from the Oprah show was that despite my up-bring&#8230; in spite of my parents and their \u00a0choices&#8230; I was in control of my own future. \u00a0There was no room for excuses. \u00a0My childhood did not define my adulthood.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I love that!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>MY CHILDHOOD DID NOT DEFINE MY ADULTHOOD!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">It was life changing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I loved so many stories I heard&#8230; of my fellow humans. \u00a0I remember one that I will never forget&#8230; a young mom&#8230; diagnosed with terminal cancer spent her time making videos for her child\/ren so that when they reached each milestone&#8230; she was there too. \u00a0I remember crying as I watched. \u00a0I remember begging God to never take me away from my children, and I was just a teenager. \u00a0I remember thinking of the selflessness of this lady&#8230; how much it must hurt her to make these videos&#8230; and yet she maintains a smile as she taped each one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I could go on&#8230; there are so many stories that truly touched me&#8230; and yet&#8230; as I watched Oprah today say goodbye&#8230; I felt a sadness. \u00a0I won&#8217;t lie&#8230; she, Oprah got on my nerves many a time&#8230; but I still appreciated her and her gift of doing what she did. \u00a0So as she said goodbye&#8230; I am so thankful for this forum that taught me so much.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">So&#8230; all the best&#8230; and thanks, Oprah!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Goodbye and Thanks&#8230; Oprah! As I am sure many you did&#8230; I grew up watching The Oprah Show. \u00a0I was just a teenager&#8230; and this was something my brother and I did together. I learned so much from this show, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=1905\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11,55],"tags":[256],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1905"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1910,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905\/revisions\/1910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}