As Oprah Winfrey ends her afternoon talk show today, much has been written about her impact on American culture, books, television, women's lives, and more.

But O's departure means something else to me. It marks the end of my mom's dream of being on Oprah.

When you're a writer, you always get the writing assignments in the family (obits, wedding speeches, graduation speeches) and mom just knew I would write THE letter that would tell her story so poignantly that Oprah would fly her out and sit her on the couch.