My grama used to ask me, “Did you see Oprah yesterday?”
I told her I didn’t watch that show, but she always asked, so I started recording it.
The first episode I watched shocked me.
There was a woman who could tell you how she celebrated every birthday, what she wore every Halloween and who all of her teachers were in school. Can’t everybody do that? I can totally do that.
They threw dates of major headlines at her. My daughter walked into the kitchen to find me sitting on a stool, yelling at the TV. “Lennon was shot. The space shuttle exploded. Baby Jessica fell in a well.” I could play this all day. I was having a blast.
Then this woman started to speaking to me. She said she was lonely. No one else shared her memories.
She said she wanted to forget. Me too. I take baths instead of showers so I can prop up a book, because if I shower I will stand there remembering. I will remember every disappointment, insult and fearful moment of my life.
This is also why I don’t go running.
Ok, that’s not why I don’t go running. But it would be if running were easy.
This Oprah guest who talked about feeling alone made me feel less alone — but more like a freak. I had no idea I was a freak. It’s a good thing I watched.
The next day I was eager to discuss it. I picked up Nana from her Scrabble club. “Did you see Oprah yesterday?”
“No,” she said.
December 22, 2010 at 4:17 pm
[…] As my longtime readers know, I’m tortured by my keen memory. […]
May 13, 2011 at 6:18 am
[…] Oprah, which I now tape and watch, thanks to my grama, they had an episode about children who commit suicide because of […]
September 24, 2011 at 12:48 pm
[…] You may remember she was sick yesterday from the stress of speaking in public. She was in no state to drive an hour each way to give me money. On top of that, she was busy with things, like taking Nana to her Scrabble club. […]