Ahndea May: Tribute To My First Music Icon

Every channel on tv this morning is talking about the sudden death of Whitney Houston. The Barbra Walters interview from 1993 brought me to tears as she Whitney sang for the first time publicly at 11 years old in church "Guide Me Oh Thou Great Jehovah." Her roots began in church and her songs were sung out of her love for Jesus. In the interview, Whitney talked about the point when she realized that God had given her such a "gift." Even her long time producer, Percy Bady, said "It was as though God just placed his hand a little longer on her shoulder." He went on to talk about the importance of having "humility with the gift" and "grace with the success," "this gift is like dust on a wing of a month and when the dust comes off it can no longer fly." When you begin to focus on the why you loose the whimsy of the flight.

I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to balance the fame with a normal life and staying centered in the process. Her intention was to use the gift God had blessed her with to reach others and it did! My dad passed away in 1993 and her music became a huge part of my healing as a young adolescent dealing with immense pain and grieving, I have clear memories of belting out her songs from Bodyguard with tear filled eyes. Singing Joy To The World on her Christmas cd and dancing for hours to Dace With Somebody.

There are so many life lessons in the loss of Whitney Houston. One, is the importance of who you choose to live your life with. It is no secret that Bobby and Whitney had a volatile relationship. Years of unhealthy disfunction. It became clear to the world that Bobby was not the sail under her wings but the very thing that would suffocate it. History would prove that being in a toxic relationship can become addicting and the codependence feels like a drug, an addiction. We saw this with Tina Turner and Ike. It seems so easy to say just leave, but after you have ignored the red flags and gut promptings so many times, it becomes your new reality. This breaks my heart and challenges me as a mother of 4 girls to instill the importance of positive relationships.

Drugs are really so common these days and especially in the celebrity world. We have seen many talented actors and musicians succumb to overdose in the last 5 years. I'm not sure if it is the drugs they are addicted to or the emotions, pain, and unhappiness they are trying to numb. Sometimes rather than dealing with our lives we avoid it by dulling our conscience. If you don't have to deal with reality it won't be so hard to live. But the point is... there are consequences and they will catch up to you. Eventually your life will be shortened or the person you intended to be for your family disappears and that can be just as damaging as dying.

I was refreshed last night watching the Grammys. LL did such a great job of opening in prayer and paying tribute to Whitney. But the best part for me was the achievement of Adele. She was just stunning. A raw talent a REAL PERSON! She is normal. She is a breath of fresh air when what we consider talent is performing "The Exorcist." It is just sobering and to focus on the true meaning of the Grammys... music, songs written from life and experiences. Emotion and heart. Real People like us, who can use their music and God given talent to relate, inspire and heal.