I was working at my computer on Saturday night when the news flashed across my web page, Publicist reports that Whitney Houston has died. Disbelieving the report, I walked to my bedroom to confirm what I had just seen. I turned the television to CNN and they were reporting that Whitney was dead.
I felt shock, and hurt and loss. It was as if a member of my family had died. Me and my wife Vantoria starting talking about Whitney's presence in our lives. We talked about her voice, a unique gift that filled the airwaves during the 80's as Whitney burst on the scene and filled our lives with her music..
I became a fan of Whitney Houston in 1985 when I heard her sing the Greatest Love of All. That particular song holds a special place in my heart., the first time I heard it sang was at the ninth grade promotion ceremony in June 1982 at the Martin Luther King Junior High School in Cleveland Ohio. The young lady that sang The Greatest Love of All at the ceremony had experienced a great loss that very week when her Mother died. I don't remember the girl's name but I can still see her singing with such power as she touched the emotion of every one of her classmates including me. When she reached the end of the song she started to cry and we all cried with her.
A couple of years later I heard Whitney sing The Greatest Love of All and I was a fan from that day on.
Now when I hear the Greatest Love of All I will see two faces in my mind and cherish the memory. I'll see the ninth grade classmate who had the courage to sing with a broken heart. And I'll see Whitney Houston, an incredible gift to this generation.
