My Afternoon with Oprah

On the plane ride over to Maui I read an article in a magazine that featured celebrities talking about their favorite "magical place." Oprah was in there and she said that her favorite place was sitting beneath one of the large oak trees on her property. There's a lot of time to be reflective on a six hour plane ride and I instantly thought, I'd like to spend a day with Oprah! I'd show up and Oprah would graciously give me a personal tour of her expansive home, during which time I'd be careful to notice the little details like, "Oooh! I love the ceramic hounds you've placed over by the bar in the game room!" Then we'd go into the kitchen and have a light snack and maybe do some sort of craft project (here is where my vision gets murky because I can't tell if I'm blending it too much with My Time with Martha Stewart).

The real magic would happen though when we'd retire outside to her property, possibly to kick our bare feet up in a shared hammock under those oak trees while her Cocker Spaniels ran around and barked at squirrels on the grounds. We'd laugh and chit chat about various things from her past and mine until suddenly, Oprah would say something particularly poignant and without realizing it, I'd get a faraway look in my eyes. Then shit would get real. All of a sudden I'd be seeing things in a new light. "Wow, I never thought of it that way - but you're absolutely right!" I'd say, shaking my head.

With the afternoon growing long, Oprah would escort me to the door herself, both of us laughing over some silly thing Stedman did. At the front door, Oprah would take my hands in hers, look into my eyes and remind me to stay true to what we discussed. I'd promise I would and she'd say, "Oh I know you will!" because Oprah and I just kind of get each other - which we'd acknowledge was weird since neither one of us usually have other people we don't know well understand us so intuitively! We'd promise to stay in touch and I'd promise to send her the recipe for my vegan carrot/zucchini muffins (which I do as soon as I fly home, trying not to have my feelings hurt when she doesn't respond since she's Oprah after all and very busy).

PS - For those of you who read the title and thought this would actually be about me getting to spend an afternoon with Oprah - keep up that magical thinking!