Maria Shriver Talks To Oprah About Being First Lady: "I Cried A Lot... I Still Cry"

Maria Shriver Talks To Oprah About Being First Lady: "I Cried A Lot... I Still Cry"

Maria Shriver told Oprah Wednesday that she was a reluctant First Lady of California, and felt "lost" when she left her job as a journalist after her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger took charge in California.

"I thought I was supposed to do what they told," Shriver told Oprah.

The daughter of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver, Maria had a successful career as a journalist before her husband entered politics. Shriver worked as as an anchor and reporter for CBS News and NBC News before serving as a contributing anchor on Dateline NBC from 1989 to 2004.

To avoid a conflict of interest, Shriver left NBC News when her husband took office.

"I was happy being a journalist," Shriver told Oprah. "I didn't realize losing my job, my identity went with it."

"I lost myself in the process, and I realized how much I had identified myself with Maria Shriver, newswoman," she said. "When that was gone, I had to really sit back and go, 'Well, actually, who am I today?'

She added that the emotional effects of feeling "lost" still cause her to cry some days.

Watch the exchange with Oprah:

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