A Song, Whitney Houston, Today
With some time off for the holidays, I have been going through several totes and piles of writing and other “stuff” I have accumulated over the years. I am throwing away duplicates and items I no longer find value in keeping, such as old articles and attempted submissions. My writing is preserved, but many rough drafts no longer need to take up space. One draft I came across is an op-ed submission I got rejected back in February 2012, days after Whitney Houston died.
I came across it a few hours before my husband Darcy and I went to “I Wanna Dance,” the recently released bio-pic about Houston. The coincidental timing brought more depth to the movie-watching experience we had. Both Darcy and I appreciated the film and were glad we went. It is not an upbeat movie though. We all know the sad ending. We had also watched “Elvis” in recent days. Fame and fortune are no match for power, greed, dysfunction, and addiction.
Addiction kills daily. So does cancer. Life is precious and fragile. Today is all we get. These all serve as persistent and consistent reminders to me. Stay in today and live it. Live it with an open heart and mind.
Here’s that rejected submission, with minor revisions, brought to new life on my blog, where I get to decide what is rejected and what isn’t. The video of the song quoted in the essay follows last. I appreciate the modern marvels of voice recording. The amazing voice of Whitney Houston lives on.
In the spring of 1986, “The Greatest Love of All” was a deeply meaningful song to me personally as well. I was in the midst of one of my first serious attempts to quit drinking. To learn that songwriter Linda Creed wrote it as she was going through breast cancer treatment, and then died as the song soared up the charts for Houston, is a poignant twist for this BC sister. The song taps into several emotions for me to this day. That is my kind of song!
“What’s in a song? All of us.”
The death of Whitney Houston sent me to YouTube and my favorite of her songs– “The Greatest Love of All.” Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all. How sad and ironic that she could not find or hang onto that kind of love herself. The timing of her death was further irony, on the eve of the Grammy Awards, a place Ms. Houston reigned over at the peak of her career. She won six Grammys and is one of the most acclaimed female pop music performers of all time. None of that matters when addiction gets a grip. Addiction doesn’t care who you are.
Curious about the backstory to this song, I did some research. The web of humanity woven into it brings it even more significance. Songs are like that. The co-writers were Linda Creed and Michael Masser. The lyrics were composed by the 26-year old Creed while she was going through breast cancer treatment in 1976. She was speaking to the challenges she was facing, the strength she was hoping to summon and pass along to her own children. I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadows. If I fail, if I succeed, at least I live as I believe. No matter what they take for me, they can’t take away my dignity.
The song was first recorded by George Benson in 1977, for the movie “The Greatest,” about the life of Muhammad Ali. When it was released by Houston on March 20, 1986, Creed was in the final weeks of her life. She died of cancer in April, just weeks before “The Greatest Love of All” made it to number one for Houston. Cancer doesn’t care who you are either. Creed's light was being extinguished just as Houston’s star was rising. Adele’s voice returned full force just as Whitney’s was silenced forever. Life is like that.
On the day that Houston died, February 11, statistics tell us that over 150,000 other people died around the world. On average, someone dies every three seconds on our planet. Maybe one of them was someone you knew, someone you loved. Maybe cancer or addiction killed them, or the Parkinson’s disease that ravaged Muhammad Ali for over 30 years before his death in 2016. Maybe they died suddenly and tragically, or slowly and peacefully. Death is like that.
The untimely passing of a singing star with an unbelievable voice leaves many listening to her songs again. They are part of her legacy. Many voices are silenced each day. Use yours while you still have it. Who are the stars in your life? Tell them before it’s too late. Who taught you about the greatest love of all by loving you first? Thank them. Who makes up your web of humanity? Make sure they know. What songs have touched you deeply? What is your backstory? Tell the people close to you. Tell your children. I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way. Tell your friends. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. All any of us have is today. Make the most of it. Find your strength in love.
