[MUSIC - PINK, "TODAY'S THE DAY']
Don't ever let this day stop.
Oh, oh, oh.
I never want to go home.
No, no, no, no, no.
I used to want grow up.
I thought that I could be free.
But now I'm realizing.
[APPLAUSE]
Wow.
Thank you so much.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you so much.
Have a seat.
Thank you so much.
I have missed you so much.
I have--
[APPLAUSE]
You have no idea how much I've missed you.
I am so happy to have an audience here.
This is so exciting for me.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thanks for that energy I have missed so much.
You've all been tested and you've been vaccinated,
and some of you are working from home.
[LAUGHTER]
So I appreciate that you're here.
I really do.
Thank you for wanting to be here.
It means more than I can say even though I just said it,
but more than I can actually really say.
And for those of you tuning in for the very first time,
I'm Ellen.
Don't get too attached.
This is my last season.
[APPLAUSE]
That's right.
This is my last first show, which
means this is my last first time I'll walk out here,
and it's my last first monologue,
and it's the last first time I'm going
to mention my last first time.
And if any of you are confused, it won't be the last time.
I'm excited because everybody here is here
for the very first time.
[APPLAUSE]
Yeah, so cool.
We all remember our first times, some better than others.
But don't you worry, I know what I'm doing.
I've been with a lot of audiences.
We're back with Jimmy Kimmel and I have a gift for you.
I can't thank you enough for being here.
With a gift for me?
Yeah, I do.
I think this would look really nice on your desk.
This is something that we started out with.
I don't know why, but we thought this
was funny in the first season.
It's a donkey, but look, there's a surprise.
There's a cigarette that comes out of its butt.
So if anybody smokes--
no one can smoke--
You know what?
I'm going to start smoking just because of this.
It's really handy.
There's just the one, it appears broken now.
But--
That is a very thoughtful gift.
And as a matter of fact, I, and I'm
holding a cigarette as if I smoke,
I have something for you.
No.
Yes, it's a traditional gift.
The traditional gift for 19 years,
is do you know what it is?
I do not.
It is a Kardashian.
One of my favorite things about having this show for 19 seasons
has been getting to highlight incredible people
doing incredible things.
Two weeks ago as Hurricane Eta made its way
to my hometown of New Orleans, and residents
were fleeing for safety, a group of nurses
selflessly volunteered to stay through the storm
to care for babies in the intensive care whose families
had to evacuate.
As if I couldn't love nurses anymore
from Ochsner Baptist hospital in New Orleans,
please welcome Paula, Kimberly, Kristi, and Michele.
It sets in so much when I'm driving into the city
and there's a mandatory evacuation.
So everyone is coming the opposite way
and driving out as I'm going in.
But I know that it's the right thing to do.
That's why I chose the nursing profession,
to take care of the babies.
And so I do what to do.
It's amazing to see you--
you're like the only car going in one direction,
everybody's going that way?
Yeah.
But you must feel like, is what you are a hero.
[MUSIC PLAYING]