Did you see Oprah today?

I must admit I’ve become disenchanted with Oprah over the last few years – all that dieting, binging, make-overing and celebrity hi-jinks were getting tiresome.

The real reason I don’t tune in is that Oprah airs opposite “Everybody Loves Raymond” in my market, and I love to laugh out loud. Raymond and his cast of questionably lovable characters always deliver great “Ha Ha” moments. But my friend Margaret Ann demanded that we watch Oprah today, so we could have an “Ah -Ha” moment.

I must say, Oprah delivered.

The segment was on spirituality, and toward the end of the show she interviewed the victim of a horrific traffic accident, a natural beauty, who had been burned over 60 percent of her body. After more than 40 surgeries, she had been repaired, but the once knock-down dead beauty had been cruelly disfigured.

It was hard to watch at first. But the woman had such an amazing attitude about her new persona, that I was mesmerized by her courage. She had a wonderful sense of humor about her reconstructed face – one that would scare small children, not to mention adults. But her inner beauty was shining through by the buckets full.

The former “outer” beauty said she allows herself to cry for no more than five minutes a day, then she goes about her business, developing a life of service and inner beauty. She has accepted her plight and decided to make the best of it.

I felt so ashamed. I’m inclined to let my exterior imperfections cloud a perfectly beautiful day. But I wonder how I would have handled the hand dealt to her.

The show was haunting, but thought provoking and reminds me that beauty is fleeting.  But my mother was wrong. It’s not just skin deep – it’s down the the core- where you really find it.