On the next...Oprah

Wednesday morning at 7:15 a.m., Amber and I drove to Chicago to attend the 11am taping of an Oprah Show. I've been calling for tickets on and off for the past year but could never get through the phone line. I've heard it's either busy for hours on end or you get right through after calling. Well, I saw on her website that last-minute reservations for an August taping were available so I emailed and asked for two tickets and I was out of my mind thrilled to get them!
We got to the studio at about 10:15, waited in line and went through security until noon...then waited another hour for them to escort us into the studio for the taping. While waiting, I met the most interesting people who flew from Ohio, Florida, and a family who drove from Indiana to attend this taping! One woman stood up after the show and said she WALKED FROM FLORIDA and called her trek "Destination Oprah." Unbelievable.
Well, before the show, I pumped the woman next to me for information on the show's topic. This woman had her friend at Harpo hook up her tickets so I knew she must know something! She was sworn to secrecy not to tell but finally confessed that it was about cheating husbands. Specifically, the show was called, "WHY MEN CHEAT." Ugh. My heart sunk at the downer of a topic.

But when I walked through the doors of her studio, I was in awe. It's a lot smaller than you think it'd be. And Oprah looks great in person. The setting feels really intimate. It's surreal to be sitting in a place you're so familiar with on television. The author of "The Truth About Cheating" was interviewed after conducting research on the emotional roots of male infidelity. He specializes in divorce prevention and wanted to equip women with ways to prevent their husbands from straying and also discern the signs that their husbands may be cheating.
Couples on the show shared heartbreaking stories of infidelity. Since my father cheated on my mother...and I married someone whose wife had an affair...I felt uncomfortable by some of what people shared. Amber and I tensed up during taping. One woman shared that she and her husband were married 18 years and had two kids. They become great friends with another couple...and her husband ran away with the other woman she had become so close to. You need to be so careful about having boundaries even with couple-friends.
Anyway, we decided in the end that it was a wonderful experience and it's always good to get tips on improving your marriage. We did leave with one concrete tip: Create an appreciation list for your husband--even for things he's expected to do. Verbalize or show appreciation with a thoughtful gesture at least three times a week. For 92 percent of men in America, cheating is not primarily about sex. It's about their desire to feel appreciated.
That's not to say that cheating is ever justified. There's no excuse for such base behavior. Jeff knows full well that if he ever cheats, our marriage is over. I'd file divorce papers the next day after the discovery of infidelity. But I do want to work on strengthening our marriage so it never gets to that point.
To wrap up, I had a great time connecting with Amber on the way over and back from Chicago. The show fostered great discussion and it was a great life experience to check off on my list of 100 things I want to do before I die!