Oprah Show Taping
Ashleigh is a huge Oprah fan. She watches her every day. We really admire Oprah’s compassion and the way she uses her celebrity to help others. So, when we were in Chicago at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago my wife decided to try to get tickets for an Oprah show. Let me just say, that getting tickets is easier said than done.
Somehow my wife got tickets lined up for us. The next step was the hospital staff. We were very worried that with insurance or hospital policies it was going to be a big hassle. As you may have run into, some of the folks in the medical world are real sticklers for policies and rules.
So we made the trip to Harpo Studios and Ashleigh was probably the only hospital patient to attend an Oprah taping. The Oprah staff was just fantastic. We did not even get all the way across the street from the parking lot before we were met by a staffer.
After the taping my wife asked if there was any way for Ashleigh to meet Oprah. They checked but Oprah was already changing for the second taping. Instead, Oprah signed a copy of her magazine that I scanned in below. Ashleigh really treasures that magazine and the whole Oprah experience. My wife is still hoping for Ashleigh to be on Oprah as a guest one day. She thinks Asleigh’s story and her spirit and determination she has displayed sincer her acident is the kind of story Oprah’s audience would enjoy.
One last note, when we saw the show air on TV we were never shown in any of the audience shots. The show featured a number of taped segments where Oprah had interviewed the guests elsewhere so there were fewer opportunities to get on TV, but, we were hoping Ashleigh would have been on TV at least once. Maybe next time…
It turned out fine. The doctors said they were okay with it as long as each of the therapist signed off on the idea. The therapists were great. When it came time to leave RIC for the taping we had every therapist and nurse offering Ashleigh their service as her personal medical staff as long as they could come along to the show.
Ashleigh was escorted inside out of the cold immediately and we got right through to the head of the line and then to the waiting area. A ramp was set up in the studio and Ashleigh and another lady in a wheelchair were seated. The other audience members then came in and the show began. Oprah was very personable and we thought she looked even more attractive in person. Ashleigh really enjoyed herself.
The only negative was that the show topic was about cheating husbands. Maybe not the best day to be one of the few guys in the audience. If you can go by the schedule of when the shows aired then we just missed the Tom Cruise “jump on the couch” show. Ashleigh would have really enjoyed that show.