I normally don't get caught up in the lives of Hollywood celebrities. I have my favorites, of course, and I've actually been to Hollywood a few times. But I don't idolize them. I don't get involved in their lives in my mind, because many of them make outrageous choices and simply put, I just don't care what they're doing most of the time. They're just people who are famous. But when I heard Whitney Houston died yesterday, I felt a part of my childhood die along with her. I actually cried.
“The Greatest Love Of All” helped me through a few difficult years. I had held my tape recorder close to my gigantic radio and waited for Magic 107 to play it, then I recorded the song (simultaneously holding down the "record" and "play" buttons) on a cassette tape (if you don't know what a cassette tape is, stop reading and google "seventies" - look up 8-tracks while you're there...). I played it over and over. Specifically the line “I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows” spoke to me. I felt I needed to be more like this girl at school, or that girl in my neighborhood. Whitney told me that it was okay to just be me. I wasn't always content with that...but sometimes that's being a teenager. :)
I was really pulling for Whitney Houston to make it. She gave me that very special song (along with songwriters Michael Masser and Linda Creed). Rest in peace Whitney, and thank you from a former thirteen-year-old girl.
