Goodbye Whitney

Whitney Houston was found dead last night in her bathtub.

I feel about Whitney Houston the way millions of people did when Michael Jackson died. I think about her songs and the way her music effected my life. I, like I'm sure so many millions of people, shake my head and sadly say "why?"

I bought her Whitney Houston album when it came out in the 80's - you know, the one with the songs Saving All My Love for You and Greatest Love of All. I went to her concert (which was even better than her album) when I was in high school.

I cheered for her when she went on Oprah in 2009 after being out of the limelight for so long and I bought her comeback album. I listened to that album several times in my car and thought the words, especially the first two paragraphs, to A Song For You were so fitting:

I've been so many places in my life and time

I've sung a lot of songs and made some bad rhymes

I've acted out my live in stages with ten thousand people watching

Well, we're alone now and I'm singing this song to you

I know your image of me isn't what I hoped to be

I've treated you unkindly but darling can't you see

There's no one more important to me? Baby, can't you see through me?

We're alone now and I'm singing this song to you

To me, she resembled my friend in one of her videos. I just watched that video on YouTube and got all choked up that she's gone. I remember when Mariah Carey's first song played on the radio. I thought is that Whitney Houston? I have so many memories related to her songs. Today, I grieve the loss of her.