crooning in heaven

I was sitting in a packed coffee house Saturday evening, waiting for a friend to read from her latest poetry, when I overheard a woman say, "Whitney Houston died."

I was sure that I had misheard her ... after all, there were so many people in that place and so much noise as people milled around.

When I got in the car, I scanned the radio to see if anyone was playing Whitney songs ... you know, the tribute set is the surest sign of a singer's passing.

I found one song, not a favorite, but I had to get out of the car before I could hear anyone confirm or deny.

I thought immediately of my little sister who loves Whitney the way that I love Sade.

Truth be told, though, 1985 was my year of Whitney and Sade. I think I wore out copies of both their cassettes (yes, cassettes) while I was in Spain.

On my iPod now, near the end of the play list, right before Etta James, are my all time favorite Whitney songs.

I have to be in just the right mood, whether hurt or nostalgic or brave or vulnerable... there are any number of cases when one just needs to hear a Whitney Houston song.  [My friend, Gerard, will excuse me if I still love me some Whitney even though she didn't write her own songs.] 

I keep them at the end because I don't always have the strength for them... Having them at the end means I can get to them when I need to, but they won't spring up before I can muster the proper amount of emotional strength.


So, here is my tribute set.  May she rest in peace.  May her family find solace in the promise of that peace.

Remember when we held on ...


I may never recover from that cold November day...


Probably best not to count the tear drops...


this one will always break my heart


It's really hard to choose one all time favorite, but I am going to have to go with this one: