Oprah Winfrey is opening up about how the death of her beloved Golden Retriever, Gracie, helped her to slow down and appreciate life.
Winfrey writes in this month’s O, The Oprah Magazine about the devastating loss of her 2-year-old dog, who died May 26, 2007, after choking on a small ball.
Winfrey says that Gracie was a lot like her – always living life at full-throttle. “I was always saying, ‘Gracie, slow down.’ She gulped her food. Gulped treats. Would let you hug her for a second, then race off to — where? She was the only dog I was always looking for, going out on the porch calling, ‘Graaaacie! Gracie, come!’”
The day after Gracie died, an anguished Winfrey went to the spot where Gracie had taken her last breath. “[I] called again, ‘Graaaacie! Graaaacie!’”
“But even in my stunned state, I knew this was not what it appeared to be: a freak accident with a clear plastic ball that lit up inside. I don’t believe in accidents. I know for sure that everything in life happens to help us live.”
Winfrey, who had been working so hard in the last few months that several friends had warned her to take a break, believes the dog’s death was a message to her to slow down and appreciate life. A message that Winfrey says she will heed.
“I now know for sure angels come in all forms,” Winfrey says.