Whitney.

I've shutting off my feelings each time a celebrity succumbs to addiction. I didn't know them. The music industry doesn't take care of them. There's nothing I can do. I had an inappropriate attraction to Michael Jackson as a kid, which I learned to shut off as I got older. Amy Whinehouse was awesome, but we all saw that coming. Then there is Whitney Houston.  It's a little harder to shut it off this time.

The year that the movie Bodyguard came out my 5th grade friend Billy Garcia had just died. He was hit by a diesel truck on a main street by our school. Coincidentally I just wrote a piece about him for one of my writing workshops, and since I've shared his story there have been other memories that have surfaced.

When I was dealing with my first death at ten years-old, "I Will Always Love You" was the song of that year. Every time I heard it, it was as if Whitney was pulling out the pain from me with her own hands.

But as the years passed, that song was over sang by every so called R&B artist and it lost its sentiment.  I got tired of it,  because it became cheesy.

However, in the past week since hearing about her death I am genuinely sad when I hear that song again.  Hearing her voice helped me tremendously during a rough time, and to watch her fade the way that she did has been heartbreaking.

I've spent the whole morning watching her videos. She has a voice that pierces through the heart. There has been no other. Whitney we love. Thank you for helping me.