Oprah came out and lordy I was screaming and jumping(sorry Sue) It was hard to contain myself. I was at OPRAH! So nearly immediately she introduced Ricky and lordy did the man get a welcome! I wondered how long they were going to let us clap b/c we did so for so long. He kinda "encouraged" us by motioning for more(with an impish grin on his face I might add). We screamed some more. I had plenty of it in me, eh Sue? Whew, all dressed in black, Ricky looked quite handsome. For the record, he shaved his goatee which I am *still* convinced he did for me! We all settled in quickly and honestly, I found it hard to watch the footage and listen to Ricky talk about things and not feel bad for being so happy to be there. I was torn between elation and complete and utter sadness for what he was discussing w/ Oprah. I will not go into any detail about what was shown as it has already been done so. Like everyone said, there were many gasps at information given, tears shed and just complete sadness felt by everyone that I saw. Ricky was very very eloquent with his speaking. Listening to his voice...so calming to me even though he wasn't singing. It's so soothing.
In between segments, he and Oprah would chat a bit. It was nice to see him in a different manner than a concert. I am so proud of him. It definitely was a great experience for me and I think for those who had no clue that Ricky was involved in such projects. As he watched the footage that was taped by him and Oprah's people, you saw a HUGE mix of emotions. As he saw himself holding the babies...you could see his eyes shine and the smile on his face let us know how he felt. When he was dressed to go into the morgue, I knew what was going to happen. Ricky's reactions and responses will stay w/ me forever. At a certain point, you could see him tearing up. It was heart wrenching for me. Oprah said, the numbers make us numb...think of it this way..(we saw a segment of a father's story about losing his 7 yr old son while there)...think of that father's story(which was very very touching)...multiply that emotion, that much sadness by 160,000....how powerful is that?! I want to say that the segments were very hard to watch. Especially Lisa's. They were quite graphic at some points. After all of the taping for the regular show was over, they brought out another chair so that 3 people were able to sit together. We knew that Ricky was coming back out(he didn't sit out there for Lisa's segment). We were told earlier that an "aftershow" wasn't always possible so I just prayed we would be blessed with it.
Can you imagine?! This is what his foundation (peopleforchildren.org) is raising money for. To get these kids out of harm's way and keep them safe from these pedophiles. They are going to Thailand and taking the kids and selling them for sex and for illegal adoption. The whole show was quite sullen and it was hard to contain myself w/ Ricky sitting there in front of me
