OPRAH'S FAVORITE GUEST

Oprah is winding down her show of 25 years and what a successful run she's had!  These last few weeks, she has been remembering lots of past guests, some of which are deceased now.  One of her, and my, favorites was an 11 year old boy, named Mattie (Matthew) Stepanak.  What an inspiring young man he was- so spiritual and wise, waaaaaay beyond his years.  He was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, which his mother and all 3 of his siblings also had, but he was the only sibling who survived this long. He was wheelchair bound, hooked up to oxygen and all kinds of gear, but never, NEVER was he without a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.  Oprah referred to him as a poet and peacemaker, because he wrote such beautiful thoughts and poems.  On one of his last appearances on Oprah, March, 2002, he said this:  "I'm always careful to see my glass half full, because if I see my glass half empty, with no hope at all, it may as well be empty all the way."  Little Mattie made it to his 13th birthday, but unfortunately, that was his last.  When Oprah asked Mattie's mother last week, 9 years after Mattie had died, what his last words were, his mother, also wheelchair bound and hooked up to breathing paraphernalia, replied:  "24 hours before he died, he said, 'Choose to inhale.  Do not breathe simply to exist.' "  Let this be a lesson to us all, from a very wise, little man, who was even philosophizing on his deathbed!  I hope he is running with the angels.