1963-2012

I'd had a rough month. The year was 1994, and we'd just suffered another failed adoption. But a blessing in the midst of it all came when one of my clients (I was a freelance publicist), the music producer for Barney & Friends, called to say he had been nominated for a Grammy Award. And he invited my husband and me to attend the 1994 awards ceremony with him, his wife, and some colleagues in New York City.

We were broke from medical treatment and adoption expenses. But my husband found me a sequined gown for 1/10 of what it was worth. My father-in-law covered our airfare as far as Washington, DC, where he lives--only four hours from New York. And we managed to scrounge together enough for tickets and the hotel room. Saks forgot me under the hair dryer that afternoon, so they threw in a free make-up artist.

We later referred to the night not as "The Grammy's" but "The Whitneys." Whitney Houston performed several times and took home a cache of awards. To say she dominated the entire evening would be an understatement.

When she sang the song in this video, "I Will Always Love You," I witnessed the most clear, powerful voice I had ever heard and probably will ever hear in my lifetime. Video and audio fail to capture how the notes proceeded from her mouth and shook Radio City Music Hall with the reverberations. We sat stunned at the beauty of it all.

When she received her awards, she would thank her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So sad to see her life and work end this way. I pray that at last she is at peace.