whitney through the years

whitney houston died last weekend and it almost feels like i lost an old friend.

i remember when i first met her. my parents had some friends, the whitney's, and they got together frequently. they had a college age daughter named jennifer who was kind enough to let a ten year old girl hang out with her while our parents visited. i will never forget the first time i heard whitney houston sing. i can still see the orange cassette cover and her toga like dress. let me get you a picture...

she was beautiful.

and the songs...i was ten years old and had every song memorized within a week.

fast forward and her songs were with me throughout elementary school.

my favorites we so emotional, where do broken hearts go and didn't we almost have it all.

she followed me through high school with the bodyguard.

oh the bodyguard...

the movie was good but the soundtrack was so much better.

of course everyone loves i will always love you but my all time favorite from that album was i have nothing.

i spent many an afternoon belting out "dooon't maaaake meeee clooooose one more door!"

she sort of fell off the grid after that album but she wasn't done yet.

she came back in my early adults years with the preacher's wife.

i love a good black choir and when several songs included the georgia mass choir it was like candy to my ears.

i played hold on, help is on the way over and over and over.

 the first words speak a great truth

When you're down and in despair 
Don't be uneasy because he'll be there 
Say don't you worry, no don't you fret 
The Lord has never, never failed you yet 

but my favorite lines in the song are:

He may not come when you want him
But he'll be right there on time

again i didn't hear much good about her for a lot of years.

i had been going to the gym for a couple of years at this point and decided to try a step class.

who do you think sang the second song in that class? she was back again singing me through life.

million dollar bill was the last song whitney would sing to me and believe it or not it is my all time favorite song to do in step. go figure.

it's so heartbreaking to see a life cut short but it was all put into perspective when a friend wrote this on facebook:

The world has lost another great singer, whitney houston. The thing is... whether you are rich, famous, and talented... you will face the same eternity as everyone in this world. I hope someone spoke Christ into her life. 

i hope the same.