This is a disjointed post.
I’m thinking on a couple of things. First at the top of the list have you checked out ALL the link-ups on last Monday’s Mystery Link-Up post?
It is the last one we are holding for Orca Bay – and I’m so sad to see it over! It’s been so fun to visit each one and discover new bloggers, new friends, new ideas for the same quilt we were all making!
This was SO cool, all the way through November til now. You can click HERE to get back to the post. Pour yourself a hot cuppa something yummy, and settle in and visit!
The next thing on my heart is my sadness over the passing of Whitney Houston. Oh, I have heard such varying things from "What a sad loss of such a beautiful voice”, to “What did she expect? She did it to herself, she made her bed and can lie in it.” And my heart weeps for her family, her loved ones, and most of all for Whitney herself.
It's sadder than sad. She had so much potential – but perhaps she never believed in herself enough to see that she deserved to make a better choice. I don't believe in speaking ill of the dead, nor in rubbing their noses in it after the fact. What good does that do?
I only hope and pray my children know how much I love them, and know they are worth the world to me, and love and respect themselves enough to never walk the path that Whitney couldn't get herself out of once she found herself hooked. I think it would be every parent’s nightmare to watch an adult child take wrong turn after wrong turn, and the only thing you can do is love them in spite of their choices and hope that they will start to choose differently.
I will miss her. I will miss her ethereal voice, and put it down as a tragedy. My friend and I were talking about Karen Carpenter the other night, and how there has never been another voice like hers since either. Anorexia. A desire to be what the public wanted to see, what was acceptable to others….bad choice. Sad choice. We have lost so many wonderful talented people who should have been kinder to themselves, should have loved themselves more. How is it that WE can expect so much from people and not see that they have feelings, hopes, fears, dreams as fragile as the next person? Do we expect too much from those who give of their talents so much that the fame and media pressure pushes them over the edge, and then we blame THEM for their actions? What part do WE play in the tragedy of those who choose to take their own lives, or make choices that ultimately end their lives? And then we tsk tsk tsk and rub their noses in it. I'm so sad.
I know it’s deep. I wish the world would have been kinder to these two ladies. I wish that they had felt worth it, felt loved, just as they were, without having to fit some mold that society forced them into. I wish they had felt strong enough about themselves and who they were to make a better choice.
Do you love YOURSELF enough to make a better choice? I hope I can show that kind of strength. Do *I* love myself enough to make a better choice? Sometimes it's not easy.
This is how I choose to remember Whitney:
Beautiful lady, I'll carry the echo of your voice within my heart.
And on to our freebie book! This was still free for me a minute ago when I clicked it after finding it. Check before clicking that it is still free for you.
The One You Love by Paul Pilkington is free today in the Amazon Kindle store
Genre: Suspense/Mystery
Editorial Reviews
Product Description
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Thanks so much for the comments on Whitney and Karen. I think of Elvis in this way, as well. There will never be another voice like his. I choose to remember him singing his gospel hymns.
ReplyDeleteThere are any number of reasons why these talented people end up leaving this world so early in their lives. Like the passing of any other loved one, we can only turn to God for our own understanding and comfort as we deal with the loss.
Thank you, Bonnie, for your kind words about Whitney Houston. No need for criticism now; just compassion. My favorite performance of hers was at the 1991 Super Bowl, singing "The Star Spangled Banner." Google it. It's amazing!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting up the video of Whitney, Bonnie. That's always been my favorite song of hers, even though the movie (which was great!) played up the others more. Her talent will definitely be missed, right along with Karen's. Theirs are actually 3 of the 9 cd's in my car.....I listen to them all the time. What a loss.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same sadness Bonnie! Whitney was lost to us and herself a long time ago, which is a terribly sad story. And every Christmas when I pull out my CD's and the Carpenters begin to sing to me, I cry for the loss of that golden voice and the wonderful, warm person Karen was. Hopefully, with the death now of some of their special ones the celebrity world will be begin to look at their choices a little more closely and carefully. What a shame!
ReplyDeleteOne of my all-time favorite movies was The Bodyguard, with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. She had a great voice. I hate to see what money and drugs to do ruin these stars' lives... Your words are very poignant! Hopefully we all make the right choices!
ReplyDeleteI echo all of you folks. What a talent! She will be sadly missed.
ReplyDeleteMaryella
This is one of the first books I read on my Kindle. It is a good read--lots of suspense and I liked the characters. The locations seemed very real to me--something that is important to me--and we had visited the UK about a year before so I felt like I was treading on familiar ground.
ReplyDeleteAmen Bonnie..well put.
ReplyDeleteThank you...you say it so eloquently.
ReplyDeleteKaren was my Dad's favorite singer (he is 88 now). I saw her in concert with her brother twice. The first time she was thin, the second time gaunt (I was sitting on the front row). Very sad.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing talent we lost with Ms. Houston's death. So much she had achieved. What could have been her future had she been on a better path?
Whitney, Karen, and don't forget Elvis, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and too many others - all talented voices silenced too soon. Your eloquent words said it so well.
ReplyDeleteVery well said, and I agree completely - there is no reason to bad mouth her. We have all made the wrong choices at some point - thankfully for us, our every move is not made public. Whitney had an amazing God given talent, and I'm thankful that it was shared with the world.
ReplyDeleteVery well said Bonnie. There are so many we have lost way too soon because of where their successes led them. It is not for us to judge them.
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie! Your words about Whitney's death really hit home for me: " I think it would be every parent’s nightmare to watch an adult child take wrong turn after wrong turn, and the only thing you can do is love them in spite of their choices and hope that they will start to choose differently." My son is a recovering drug addict and you pretty much summed up what my life has been like in recent years. On a good note, my son has been clean for 8 months now and is on the road to a better life for himself. I thank the Lord every day that I still have my son and pray for those who have not been so lucky. God Bless You! RIP Whitney.
ReplyDeleteBonnie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments. My younger daughter has a bio-mom who is addicted and I continually try to help her see this woman as a person trapped in a terrible, tragic cycle. My daughter has made me see addiction differently, too. I look at her and wonder, "How terribly strong must the pull be if you can't give it up to keep your child." I'm hoping that my daughter will grow to have a realistic but compassionate view of her mother despite the terrible things she remembers.
This is one of the first books I read on my Kindle Fire after I received it for Christmas. It was full of suspense and I loved some of the English phrases that were used making it a bit different than if it had been written by an American author. It's a good read!
ReplyDeleteWe will definitely miss Whitney's talent. It is a shame she made so many bad choices, though.