um...

A few weeks ago, NieNie was on Oprah.

NieNie is short for Stephanie Nielson, a blogger from Provo, Utah. She is an extraordinary woman, wife and mother of four adorable kids. Her blog is so inspiring. And one of the reasons it is so inspiring is the crazy turn her life took last summer when the small plane carrying her and her husband crashed.

Stephanie suffered burns over 80% of her body. She was in a coma for months. I followed her recovery through her sister's blog until Stephanie finally began blogging again. And the story of her day-to-day life is so inspiring and humbling. She makes me tear up almost every time I read her blog. She reminds me what is really important.

Anyway, I was uberexcited she was going to be on Oprah. My mom and Olivia both were like, "Did you see NieNie is going to be on Oprah?!" (And I have to give my mom props for totally calling it before the appearance was announced, when she read on Stephanie's blog that she and her husband, Christian had taken a trip to Chicago.)

Anyway, so I taped the episode. (Or DVRed it, whatever...) And watched with tears in my eyes. Stephanie and her husband are so in love! And she looks so beautiful! She still has a lot of scars, but her blue eyes are the same and her little hairdo. Anyway.

So the Lion turns to me and he says, "Her lips are big."

And I wipe my tears away and pause the show and say, "Yes, they are big. Do you know why?"

Lion shakes his head. And I take the opportunity to explain to him how badly Stephanie was hurt, and how sometimes people look different and that's normal for them and we should never stare at them or mention how they look different. I really went all out. Like an after-school special or one of those "The More You Know" commercials. Anyway, I summed up beautifully and asked the Lion if he understood.

He blinked at me and then asked, "But why are your lips so big?"