Media mogul Oprah Winfrey took great pride in watching her half-sister, Patricia Lofton, check off an item from her bucket list recently. “Pat had one big dream when I met her [which was] to go to college and finish strong! Today that dream came true. Congratulations lil sis,” enthused the 63-year-old, who was in the audience, along with partner Stedman Graham, cheering on Pat, 54, and her fellow graduates at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ceremony on Dec. 17.

Oprah has said it was a “miracle” finding her half-sister in 2010 since Pat had been put up for adoption as a baby. The two share mother Vernita Lee, who lives in Wisconsin. Oprah reportedly bought her little sister a $500,000 home in Wisconsin and provided her with a monthly allowance so she could quit her job and go to school full-time. So sweet!

Back in 2011, Oprah brought her half-sister onto The Oprah Winfrey Show to share their story with her viewers after only meeting her in 2010. It’s so nice that Oprah was able to witness Pat graduate in person!

Recently, Oprah has opened up about why she and longtime love Stedman never got married. “Nobody believes it, but it’s true. The only time I brought it up was when I said to Stedman, ‘What would have happened if we had actually gotten married?'” she said in an interview with Vogue. “We wouldn’t be together if we’d married. We would not have stayed together, because marriage requires a different way of being in this world.” Interesting!

“His interpretation of what it means to be a husband and what it would mean for me to be a wife would have been pretty traditional, and I would not have been able to fit into that.” The two have been dating since 1986, and their love has lasted over 30 years without being married, so we guess it’s working out for them just fine!