A Kid Who Watched TV for 25 Years

I can't believe this is Oprah's last season, she was a staple in my childhood!  When I think back to being a kid I always remember her show being on when I got home from school.  My momma used to watch her while she started cooking dinner.  Anybody around my age associates Family Matters and Full House with T.G.I.F. on ABC.  You know how a specific smell or a certain song can take you back to a special place.  When I hear the music for Monday Night Football it reminds me of the Cowboys, the Emmitt Smith, Michael Irving, Troy Aikman Cowboys!  Or when someone parts my hair it makes me think of Dallas...the t.v. show because my mom always watched that while she combed my hair at night before bed.

Image: www.art.com

Oprah is one the few things that survived all of the network shuffles, year after year.   It's one of the few things that I can say has been around longer than me.  Unlike, cell phones or laptop computers.  When E.R. wrapped 2 years ago...it was sad!  My momma and Aunt Princess used to have weekly Thursday night phone calls to recap what Eric LaSalle, George Clooney, and Juliannna Margulies were up to.  A few weeks ago Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight announced that she would be retiring.  It never dawned on me that she was old, and definitely not old enough to retire.  She too has been on t.v. forever, and she and John Tess were the excitement that came on after the evening news.  Channel 8 in Dallas was always on at my house.  I even remember the news reporters!

Image: www.workingnurse.com

But it has hit me that I'm am getting older!  I'm no longer a kid who watches whatever my momma has on tv when I get home from school.  I get that what is on t.v. now hasn't really been on that long.  This Oprah thing is kinda like the changing of the guard.  That what I grew up with will be considered history for my kids.  (I still haven't gotten over the fact that I'm married and old enough to have kids.)  Kinda like phones with cords or televisions with a big back.  I'm only 25 but when you're a kid everything is new and you haven't been around long enough for anything to happen.  Saturday I was watching the replays of the September 11 reports and it dawned on me that Katie Couric was on the Today show then.  That September 11th, 2001 was really 9 years ago....I was a senior in high school.

Image: www.weratethings.com

I say all of this to really say that I'm going to miss Oprah!  Not because I won't have anything else to watch....but this ends the chapter of one's said childhood.  I'll be 26 in November and although I do adult like things (married, homeowner, etc.)  I'm still a kid trapped in the body of a grown woman!  Thanks to reruns of the Cosby Show, Fresh Prince, America's Funniest Home Videos I can still take myself back to that place.  Oprah's Farewell Season has made me realize that I need not be so nostalgic when it comes to my past but really embrace my future!  Not really think so much as to how much t.v. has changed but really look at how much I have changed!