In the end, it's just as it was for 25 years - Karen Williams on her couch in Cherry Hill, Oprah on the screen, the hour spent with the woman she unabashedly calls her best friend.
"They laugh at me: 'your best friend'," Williams said of her five daughters. "I had a dream Oprah was on the other side of the street, she was walking the dogs, she was going to come over to the house. One day I'm going to meet her in person. It's not too late."
Yes, for women like Williams, 59, or Elaine Brigandi, 51, who won tickets to fly to Chicago last week to see the big arena farewell shows, for those who watched the final show as usual at 4 p.m., or for those who DVRed for after work, or for those who threw an Oprah viewing party and, Oprah-style, turned the event into a benefit for a good cause, the last Oprah broadcast, what Oprah called her "love letter" to her fans, was no aha! moment.
This was definitely oh no!
Women take Oprah personally. They have for 25 years. So the end of the network Oprah Winfrey Show - the end of a daily ritual of empowerment, advice, compassion, connection, insight, spirituality, inspiration, celebrity empathizing, and, let's face it, company while doing the laundry - felt personal too.
And intimate. For women like Karin Buck Zamborsky, 42, of Ambler, mother of three, marketing director at Devon's Nap Nanny LLC (oh, if only Oprah had put the baby recliner that mimics a car seat on her show, not that they didn't try!), Oprah has been a personal hero.
"I'm totally bummed," Zamborsky said. "I almost took it for granted. It's a big hole for TV and for great inspirational stories. She has been so empowering to women. I almost feel like any kind of big successful woman has gained knowledge and insights from Oprah."
Chief among those inspirations was, no kidding, when Oprah introduced the women of the world to Spanx body shapers (and how can we ever thank her enough for that?)
"Here's the owner of Spanx, here's how she came up with the idea, here are the tools you need," said Zamborsky. "I carve time out of my life to watch the shows I feel will make a difference in my life. It's almost like a learning hour, a self-help hour."
For Doneza Smith, 35, it is Oprah's personal story of overcoming adversity and an abusive childhood that she finds most compelling.
