As some of you know and some of you don’t care, today was Meredith Vieira’s last episode of the Today Show. As always, she was a stunning vision. There were a lot of sappy clip montages and they even carted out Carole King to serenade the Heavenly Angel’s departure with "You've Got a Friend".
What surprised me most about the proceedings was how emotionally swept up I had become. I’ve spent 5 years waking up and having coffee with this lady and, as I mention often, change scares me. So, I’m sitting and eating my Cheerios at 8:20 in the morning while swiping away tears like an idiot. I suppose the joy of those moments is that they only appear as a surprise. They can only sneak up on you.
Meredith offered a terrific speech that validated my vulnerability:
“But, you know, it’s funny. That Virginia Tech story, when I talked about those kids- what I remember, and it really says something about the Today Show and why this is such an important show. They did a candlelight vigil- I’ve talked about this before- and these kids started coming up to me and they said, you know, in that terrible massacre there, and they said, “can we please hug you?” And that they watched the show every day. And they didn’t have their mothers or their fathers next to them. I realized in that moment what was so humbling about the power of this show to really reach people. And it’s such a blessing to have had that ability. I am so honored to have sat with all of you. Well, most of you.”And then she gave Matt Lauer a playful tap, ultimately demonstrating her ability to transition between sincerity and fluff (as is the goal of the Today Show, which originally got ratings in 1953 because it had a live monkey on the air every day named J. Fred Muggs).
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| You thought I was kidding? |
I still have no idea what I'm going to watch tomorrow morning. Whatever I choose, it's no doubt that Meredith will be sorely missed.
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