Oprah's Top 20 Moments

Losing a Parent (1997)

Kate and Zach, sister and brother, lost their mother a few months before they appeared on the show. Because their mom, Kathleen, had known she was dying, the family had decided to spend time taking trips and connecting as a family while she was still alive. I asked Kate what her favorite moment from that year had been.

"One day when I came back from swimming," she said, "my mom was in bed. She said, 'Kate, would you get me a bowl of cereal?' I said, 'Sure.' A week before she died, I was in my parents' room. I said, 'Mom, would you wake me up if you go downstairs to get a bowl of cereal?' So at 2 in the morning, we had a bowl of Cheerios together."

Here's what I found so powerful about Kate's story: They'd been everywhere from Palm Springs to Disney World, but what Kate remembered was a simple, intimate moment of connection. My producers and I call it the Cheerios moment.