A cruise to Alaska would be a vacation of a lifetime for most of us, but for 86-year-old Del Dilkie of Edmonton, the cruise was nothing compared to whom she met on board: her longtime idol, Oprah Winfrey.
To say that Dilkie adores Winfrey would be an understatement. She has watched every episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” read all the books, and always buys Winfrey’s “O” magazine.
“She's been my idol for years and years and years,” Dilkie told CTV Edmonton, explaining that she’s long drawn inspiration from Winfrey, but was never lucky enough to score tickets to her studio show. So when Dilkie saw an ad for an Oprah-themed cruise from Seattle to Alaska, she immediately booked a ticket.
The cruise featured all sort of activities, including meditation classes, healthy cooking demos, and an onboard session of “Oprah’s Book Club.” Winfrey herself was on board, but Dilkie didn’t think that, on a ship so large, she’d catch a glimpse of her idol.
But on the fourth night, Oprah emerged from an elevator just as Dilkie came her way.
“I saw her and I went, "Oprah!,’ Dilkie said, throwing up her arms to show how she greeted her.
Winfrey happily hugged her back and the two spoke for several minutes. Winfrey even asked the 86-year-old Dilkie for some advice.
“She said "Del, how do you do it? How do you stay so healthy?’ And I looked at her and I said, ‘Oprah, I do everything you do’," she said.
Dilkie says she felt like she was in the presence of an angel during those two minutes, describing the whole cruise as the best week of her life.
“I look at it now and it seems like a dream. But it wasn’t,” she said
With a report from CTV Edmonton’s Shanelle Kaul
