Children are our Future

Posted on July 12, 2020

Back in the day we all wished we were Whitney Houston. All of us girls anyway.

I remember singing along with her (until I couldn’t hit the notes anymore). Then I would just sort of get quiet and let her do her thing. Unless I was alone. Then I would give it a shot and sing loud and free, just like her. Ok well not just like her all, but whatever came out was definitely Whitney inspired.

She absolutely did have it all. She was stunning! A model figure, seriously the most brilliant smile, skin, hair! And then that voice!!! Nothing and no one else came close. Yes, she did have it all, almost.

It was heartbreaking and tragic to watch her life unfold. To see someone so beautiful, damaged by abuse and drugs. I remember wishing her life would change, because she had brought so much to mine. I watched a documentary about her, Whitney by director Kevin MacDonald, and it seems that abuse had plagued her from a young age. Children are so very vulnerable, and we have all witnessed that abuse is something that impacts them throughout their entire life.

What would her life have been like without it? What would she have done differently? Who would she have become? Perhaps she would still be with us today.

My daughter likes to pretend she is a singer. She plays for hours on end making up songs and lyrics. She likes to do this alone and it is not often that I am invited to participate. But on those special occasions where I do catch a glimpse, it is enchanting watching her in this realm of make believe where she makes her own rules. She is the queen.

Through play she is safe to learn about herself and become who she is meant to be. And I am overjoyed that I can give this to her, That I can stand watch as she discovers who she will become on her own terms. There are special times when she is so lost in her little world and so happy with what she is creating that she will start to sing – forgetting that I can hear her.  She sounds like an angel to me, and that, reminds me of Whitney.

3 thoughts on “Children are our Future

  1. Chantale

    Beautiful blog post! Beautifully written, you are very talented!
    I’m a big fan of Whitney, and it is so unfair the abuse she suffered from, like too many women unfortunately!
    We are lucky to have our girls and they are lucky to have such caring mommies! (And dads 😉

  2. Mama Fish

    I miss Whitney! May she be in Peace, what a wonderful gift she shared with the world.
    This week my husband and I were sitting on our dock at the lake watching all the kids play. He noticed how so many of them under the age of 12 usually, would step out and do cannibals, splashing us all without any awareness that we were there. He said to me that he wished our kids and all the kids would pay a little more attention. This is where I stopped him and reminded him that if they did, they would lose their ‘’present moment magic’ and would no longer be kids.
    What age do we lose that magic? When did it occur exactly when we stopped singing like no one is watching?
    Enjoy those precious moments and keep them alive for our precious little ones….I hope our children can keep that magical unawareness as long as they can!!!!

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