10:58 a.m ET: That's a wrap. Some of Winfrey's final words: "I thank you all for your support and your trust in me. I thank you all for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. … I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration to me as I tried to be for you. I won't say goodbye, I'll just say until we meet again. To God be the glory."

She walked through the audience before heading backstage, where her teary-eyed staff offered hugs and kisses. "We did it!" she hollered, once with her staff and once with her dog Sadie, who she held in her arms as the screen faded to black. 

10:54 a.m. ET: Winfrey said she offered a "prayer of gratitude" every day coming down from the Harpo makeup room into the studio.

10:51 a.m. ET: Winfrey choked up thinking about how she was born into a world where it was thought she couldn't be anything but a maid or a teacher in a segregated school. "You and this show have been the great love of my life," she said, tears in her eyes. 

10:50 a.m. ET: Winfrey wants you to email her: oprah@oprah.com. She said any emails you get from her will be directly from her.

10:49 a.m. ET: One of Winfrey's special guests in the audience is Mrs. Duncan, her fourth grade teacher who first came on the show in 1988. 

10:48 a.m. ET: Winfrey said she's relied on her fans more than they probably know: "You all have been a safe harbor for me."

10:45 a.m. ET: One of Winfrey's proudest moments was when 200 male sexual abuse victims in her studio audience stood to "lift the veil of shame" around men being sexually abused.  

10:44 a.m. ET: On regrets: Winfrey said she had "none really" but felt she could have brought more attention to the "sexual seduction, molestation and rape of children." 

10:40 a.m. ET: Winfrey said the secret to her success is "my team and Jesus." "The only time I've ever made mistakes is when I didn't listen," she said. "God is love, and God is life." 

10:39 a.m. ET: Winfrey just did a little shimmy to signify her birth. Her parents were under the tree in Mississippi "and voila! Out pops me!" 

10:37 a.m. ET: Winfrey said while the Harpo "team stays, Harpo stays, the buidling stays," (to work on her cable station OWN) her drive to work today felt fundamentally different. She's been telling her staff, "We get to land this plane today. Wheels are down, you can see the runway."

10:32 a.m. ET: Winfrey tip No. 374: validate the people you love. "I've spoken to a lot of arrogant, mean-spirited bullies on this stage," she said. "I've talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common — they all wanted validation. … They want to know, do you hear me? Do you see me? Does what I say mean anything to you?" 

10:28 a.m. ET: Time for the fun stuff! Winfrey showed clips of her swinging from a rope, riding into her studio on an elephant, and hanging from a harness. One thing her producers always wanted her to do that she wouldn't: jump out of an airplane. 

10:25 a.m. ET: Winfrey paid tribute to how her show made it OK for people to talk about family and personal problems, showing clips from past guests admitting abuse, alcoholism and more. "Little by little, we started to erase the shame," she said. 

10:20 a.m. ET: Winfrey just referenced Newton's third law of motion. She's not kidding about this classroom thing. 

10:18 a.m. ET: The early days of "Oprah" were a far cry from today's inspirational, star-studded hours. Winfrey showed brief clips from the "he said, she said" fights that used to break out among her disenfranchised guests. "The beginning of reality TV folks," she told her audience today. "Glad we grew out of that."

10:15 a.m. ET: The music coming in and out of the commercial breaks hammers it home. So go the lyrics: "25 years have come and gone and the story's still unfolding."

10:10 a.m. ET: Indeed, the show is almost preachy. Winfrey told her fans that aside from making money to survive, "you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world." "You have the power to change somebody's life," she went on. "Everybody has a calling."

10:07 a.m. ET: As expected, no one's walking away with multi-million dollar gifts. "You will not be getting a car," Winfrey told her audience. "This is my love letter to you." Before that, she mused, "It is no coincidence that I always wanted to be a teacher. I ended up with the greatest classroom in the world. And this, my friends, will be our last class for this stage." 

10:04 a.m. ET: Winfrey reminscined about how she started her TV career with "just a Jheri curl and a bad fur coat." She recalled doing her first shows without a live audience and how crucial it was to get people in her studio: "From day one, Chicago, you took me in."  

10:02 a.m. ET: "This journey that you and I have shared together" — this show is all about Winfrey's connection with her fans.

10:00 a.m. ET: Winfrey walked on to the set of her last show to a standing ovation. Clad in a salmon pink dress with ruffles streaming down the front, she beamed. She began, "There are no words to match this moment."  

9:25 a.m. ET: After 25 years, it all comes down to this: the final edition of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Who will be there? Will she give everyone a car? Maybe a million dollars?

Reportedly, it won't be that kind of sensation — " Access Hollywood" reports that the special guest of the hour will be Oprah Winfrey herself, sharing her life lessons as a personal "love letter" to her fans.

ABCNews.com will be live blogging all the action starting at 10 a.m. ET. Check back to find out what happens on the last "Oprah." 

– Sheila Marikar