<p>When Maria Shriver made her surprise appearance at a UCLA rally for Barack Obama, she looked around at the other women on the stage and declared, &quot;I&rsquo;m not standing up here because I’m cousins with her [Caroline Kennedy], not because I’m best friends with her [Oprah Winfrey], not because I admire her [Michelle Obama]. I’m standing here because I want to be here.&quot;</p><br />

<p>But Shriver and Winfrey really are friends &ndash; old friends &ndash; who got to know each other in the early days of their television careers.</p><br />

<p>As Shriver explained in a 2004 tribute to Winfrey:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Oprah and I both worked at WJZ-TV in Baltimore and lived in the same apartment complex when we were just starting out. We were girlfriends-two people kind of the same age, colleagues, working girls, single. We were struggling with a lot of the same issues.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It’s always nice when old friends stay in touch.</p>