Bye-Bye, Anderson

On Tuesday I heard some sad news… Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show isn't being renewed for a third season. Anyone who knows me knows how big of an Anderson Cooper fan I am. I was ecstatic when I found out that he was going to have his very own afternoon talk show last year, and when it debuted in 2011 I was hooked. I tuned in every afternoon and watched every single episode of the first season.

When season two was going to start I learned that Anderson's talk show was switching to a live format where he would be doing the show live every morning and would be joined by a guest co-host every day. I wasn't keen on the idea, but I love Anderson and was committed to sticking with him. When season two debuted I was devastated to find out that the TV station that had been carrying his show in St. Louis dropped it in favor of Steve Harvey's talk show. I was so disappointed that I'd no longer be able to watch Anderson every afternoon.

Anderson's show puts lots of show clips on YouTube each day and I've enjoyed staying in the loop by watching these clips, but it's definitely not the same. I don't like the new live format near as well. It's a lot more news and current events as opposed to the human interest stories of the first season. Those are the stories that I really enjoyed and have missed.

The sad thing is that I was close to being a guest on Anderson's show last season. I'm definitely not the type of person to "self promote" but last January I wrote a letter to the show expressing my desire to be a guest on the show. I knew it was a long shot, but I feel like I have been interesting story to share and thought it was worth a try. To my surprise, I actually got an e-mail back from one of the show's producers who was interested in the e-mail I submitted. The producer called me and we had many lengthy phone conversations where she interviewed me and asked me tons of questions about my life.

Long story short, she said that they had a spot for me on one of their shows and asked me if I would be able to make it to New York City. Unfortunately, getting from St. Louis to NYC is no small feat and easier said than done. Flying on a commercial airplane is pretty much out of the question for me because of my situation since that would involve getting out of my wheelchair since you have to sit in a regular seat on the airplane. Getting out of my chair would be extremely uncomfortable on my body, so this option seemed like a dead end. I suppose things could've worked things out somehow since paralyzed people can fly; but it didn't seem logistically feasible for me.

My second option was to drive, but that came with its own set of hassles, too, especially since I only had a few days notice. It would've taken about 21 hours just to get there and that would've meant taking two long days (each way) to get there, while staying in hotels the entire time I was gone. SO, I regretfully had to decline. Is that disappointing or what?!! Declining was so disheartening since meeting Anderson is something that tops my short list of "big dreams." I was so close to  actually making that dream happen, but so far away at the same time. I know that Anderson is a busy, busy man, but surely he could take a day off to fly to St. Louis to meet his biggest fan! ;)