I can't remember the first time I watched Oprah Winfrey's tv show. During high school I was a huge fan. I can't imagine I had the chance to watch it much since I played sports after school, but I know I watched it as much as I could. And for awhile... I e-mailed her show every day in an attempt to get one of my favorite teachers on the show.
Mrs. Nedra Spry was one of my favorite teachers of all-time. I took psychology with her first period during the fall semester of my senior year and I loved it. She was funny, kind and an amazing teacher. I learned a lot about psychology and even more about myself. I remember being in this weird position trying to figure out who I was now that three of my best friends had graduated. I had lost some of my identity in terms of who I was at school and I hung on every word Mrs. Spry said as she used psychology to help us become better people.
I can't imagine what it's like to teach high school students... kids who think they're adults but are typically far from it. Mrs. Spry went above and beyond... showing patience and making the class entertaining despite starting at 7:45 am. I desperately wanted Oprah and the rest of the world to recognize what an amazing teacher Mrs. Spry was... and I wanted Oprah to do something to let her know how much we appreciated her.
Obviously, Oprah, nor her staff, responded to my e-mails. And I suppose Mrs. Spry and I will never get to go on the show since Wednesday marked the series finale. Since getting a DVR last summer I've watched nearly every Oprah episode during the farewell season and I think everyone involved went above and beyond to go out on top.
I have so many memories of lessons learned from the show, but the one I felt echoed over and over this week was... "You are not alone. You are enough." When there are so many negative influences around us, shoving us down... there was finally someone offering some encouragement... offering to build us up.. and for that I'm grateful.
One of my favorite moments I'll take from the show were Oprah's final words... "To God be the glory." Earlier during the show, Oprah acknowledged people had questioned what God she talked about during the show... there are plenty of sources questioning her faith especially in light of her infatuation with "the secret" years ago. Oprah addressed it on Wednesday and said, "I'm talking about the Alpha, the Omega, the one and only G-O-D." I don't think it's my job to judge her faith, but I'm grateful for her recognition of God's impact on her life.
I could go on for days about Oprah memories... but found a montage with some of the highlights... farewell oprah!
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