Dear Ellen,
As with most personal notes, I have spent quite a bit of time considering what I might say. Until this moment, my story continued to only read, “Dear Ellen”.

Here’s why. I do not feel I have anything overly clever to tell you that you haven’t already heard from your millions of followers. We all adore you and continue to share in the joy that you so graciously bring us through our TV screens.

But what I find remarkable is that I can tell you specifically where I was on April 30, 1997. Where I was, Sahara Damore….just one of millions waiting for the second YOU would make history on television. We tend to remember our place in time and space during a tragedy. But I remember my place in time and space during one of the most triumphant moments in my personal history, with you blazing the trail.

I can recall in detail the feel of the pink 1950’s couch I sat on I had recently inherited from my grandmother. Actually, I remember the feeling mainly because it was particularly uncomfortable. Anyway, my little dog, Fred, lay at my feet, sleeping contently because ‘his mother’ was finally home from work. From my tiny basement studio, I anxiously tuned in to the moment that forever engraved itself in my heart and gave me complete permission to be myself.

For this I am forever grateful. Thank you for showing yourself to the world then and continuing to bring endless hours of laughter, heart and dancing into our lives. Only when I had gum surgery did I have to turn off your show. Too dangerous with a stitched up mouth!

I designed this blue heart specifically for you...being in your show colors of course! And I will not create any more in this scheme until you not only receive this one, but achieve world domination.

With love,
Sahara Damore