Oprah Winfrey Clock 60! Reflect On Those Who Never Reach That Age

When you reach 60, you've earned the right to
celebrate yourself a little bit. But Oprah Winfrey, who hit the milestone on Jan. 29, initially found herself thinking of others.

"First I thought this: I thought about all the people
who didn't make it," the talk-show legend told
PEOPLE Wednesday at the Santa Barbara International
Film Festival, where she received the Montecito Award
for her performance in Lee Daniel's The Butler and for
her life's work.

"I thought about when I was 48 and having heart
palpitations and I thought I was dying, but it was
really just the beginning. Really I was just
perimenopausal," she said. "I thought about 9/11. I
thought about all the people who got up and they
took their dogs out the same way I did. They made their coffee. They made their tea. They put their robes
on, and they went off for the day. And they never
made it, and they were 22, and 37, and 48, and 52,
and they never would ever see 60. So, I thought
about that."

On the subject of untimely deaths, she was asked
about Philip Seymour Hoffman, whom she interviewed in 2006. "Here was a person who embodied the
richness of life, really the richness of life in every
way," she said.

On a lighter note, Winfrey also remarked on how
lucky she felt, and how she's mellowed through the
years.

"I thought how remarkable [it is] I've had this
amazing life. I get to be here in this town," Winfrey,
who lives in nearby Montecito, says. "Eventually, I
will be able to call it home ... And what's great about
60 is you are through with the bullsh–t, it means you
are really and truly through."

"Now, Camille Cosby had told me at 40 that happens,
but 40 you're still ... in the race, you're still
competitive. And at 50, you're still like, 'Do I need
to?' 60? You are chilled. You are chilled, and you have
nothing to prove, and you can sit above that perch
with a sense of knowing that you are who you want to be, inside and out, and it's good. Life is good. 60
and a week, baby!".

Source: The People