“We wanted to be able to have all of his friends come and celebrate him while he’s able to receive the joy,” Oprah Winfrey remarked in reference to her father, Vernon Winfrey.
Oprah Winfrey is giving her best for her father.
At a unique Fourth of July celebration on Monday, the 68-year-old media magnate surprised her father Vernon Winfrey.
In a video uploaded to her Instagram account, Oprah asserted that although the event was billed as a backyard barbecue, it actually marked Vernon Winfrey Appreciation Day.
She held up the banner honoring her 88-year-old father with pride and said, “Due to his illness, we wanted to be able to invite all of his friends to help us commemorate my father while he was still healthy enough to do so.
When asked if her father was “glad” about the celebration by her best friend Gayle King, Oprah replied, “He doesn’t even know that this is for him.”
He thinks it’s a Fourth of July thing, she said.
He doesn’t know… He’s going to step outside and see everything.”
Burgers, turkey, fried chicken, and “all that stuff” were among the foods Oprah reported as being served at the gathering.
She added a film of her father enjoying the moment in a location he was most familiar with to close out the video. “My dad is a barber, so we put him in the barber chair,” she continued, pointing to her father who was seated across the yard.
While my father is still well enough to smell them, I’m bringing him his “flowers,” according to Oprah, who captioned the picture. As you spend the Fourth of July with your loved ones, happy holidays. Remember to respect one another.
Vernon is currently afflicted by an unidentified illness. Oprah made no more comment about her father’s illness.
For the past three days, Oprah has been writing about her time in Nashville, Tennessee, where her father currently resides.
She shared several images and videos of herself having fun with family. King, 67, was also a character in one of the movies she wrote about.
Making breakfast for the family with @gayleking #Nashvillestyle, Oprah captioned the video that showed them making bacon, sausage, and grits.
Oprah talked to PEOPLE in June 2021 before the OWN program Honoring Our Kings, Celebrating Black Fatherhood, which she co-hosted with Sterling K. Brown of This Is Us.
“I had a father who took responsibility for me, even though he knew I could have been someone else’s child,” she said, referring to Vernon as her father.
“My mother and father were never married,” she claimed. They had sex once. He gets a letter after I’m born asking him to send money. You own your daughter. He said he did it because he thought it might have been him. I am who I am now rather than someone you would have never, ever heard of because of his responsibility for me, which comprised not only a responsibility but also care, love, direction, and support.
“I frequently observed that in my father’s barbershop. Men would come in, hardworking men oftentimes working up to three jobs, doing everything in their ability to support their families “She continued. “That is the story of the Black fathers I have known, both those I knew when I was a child and the man I know. It is false to say that this is the only illustration of the father’s absence. I’m going to say that.”
Source: etonline.com
