Today, Oprah Winfrey introduced the world to her half-sister, Patricia.

I think it’s almost impossible not to be captivated by Oprah Winfrey.  Love her or hate her, you can’t deny that the woman knows how to make extremely compelling television.  Today may be one of the biggest days in the history of The Oprah Winfrey Show, because she just introduced the world to her long lost half-sister, Patricia.

A very pretty 47-year-old woman who does resemble Oprah, Patricia walked out onto Oprah’s stage just a few moments ago.  Oprah gave an emotional speech after her entrance, saying, “Since I have been a person known in the public, there have been few times that I’ve been anywhere and not been sold out.  There have been few times when you can bring anybody new into your life and not have that person betray you.  What is so extraordinary about Patricia is that (she has) known the secret since 2007.  She tried and tried and tried again to get responses from my mother and other people in the family.  She never once thought to go to the press.  So when I heard this about you, I said regardless if it’s true or not true, I had to meet you, because I wanted to meet somebody who had that kind of character.”

Strangely, Patricia has the same name as Oprah’s deceased half-sister Pat, who died of complications related to drug use.  Regarding that bizarre coincidence, Oprah said, “It feels to me like you are Pat on her very best day.  You are who she wanted to be without the drugs.”

Oprah and Patricia share the same mother, Vernita Lee.  Oprah’s cousin Alice was the only family member who knew that Lee had given birth to a child that she was unable to keep.  Oprah and Patricia visited their mother to discuss the story of Patricia’s adoption and her subsequent search for her family.  ”I was so shocked to know that she was trying to get in touch with me,” Lee said.  When I first heard about her, I wasn’t afraid, but I was a little leery.  I just felt funny about it.  I thought it was a terrible thing for me to do, that I had done, gave up my daughter when she was born.”

Lee gave Patricia up because she wanted to be able to stop collecting welfare, and she knew that if she kept another child, she’d remain dependent on the system.  Lee said she told the nurse in the hospital that she was planning to give Patricia up, and the nurse said, “But why?  She’s such a pretty baby.”  Lee had second thoughts and “went back looking for the baby,” but hospital officials told her Patricia, who Lee did not name, was gone.

A teary Patricia responded, “I’m trying to take it all in right now, because I never heard that I was a pretty baby, so I didn’t know.  I always had a feeling that she didn’t mean to give me up.”

Oprah told her audience, “I had an epiphany when I left my mother’s house.   She is still stuck in 1963 and is still carrying the shame that would have been put upon her in 1963 and therefore she hasn’t been fully able to embrace you.  So I would like to say to our mother: you can let that go.  You can let the shame go.   There are millions of people who have given up their children, so Vernita, you can let that go.”

Oprah got pregnant at age 14, and the resulting baby died in hospital at two weeks old.  Oprah’s deceased sister Pat told that story to the tabloids, and Oprah expressed a sense that though at the time that caused a rift between the two women, she now realizes that Pat’s revelation of Oprah’s secret freed her from the same shame she believes her mother still feels.  ”Freedom to all, that’s what you’ve brought into our lives,” Oprah told her new-found sibling.

Oprah ended the episode smiling and laughing, saying, “As you can imagine, Patricia and I are still sorting all of this out.  It’s a process.  We’re gonna be getting to know each other in the months and years and days to come.  This is the truth as I know it, so thank you so much for watching today and being a party of our family business.”

For more info about Patricia and Oprah’s story, visit Oprah.com.

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