W is for Whitney Houston

Let’s have a chat about Whitney Houston.

I was reminded of how much I used to love her when I was teaching a poetry unit, and one of the poems we discussed was “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe. In prepping for class, I ran across this:

When I showed it to my students, I was just so happy. I did the hand to the heart pose of remembering and love and everything. This was literally me in the middle of class:

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Once when we were on a road trip, my mother found this cassette in her car and, since I was driving, I popped it in and was able to sing the whole thing backwards and forwards even though I hadn’t listen to it in years:

I knew it so well because I used to listen to it non-stop as a kid. Non-stop. I can even do Jermaine’s parts on “Take Good Care of My Heart.” (…and I just found out that that’s Teddy Pendergrass on “Hold Me.” WOW.)

Do you remember that time Whitney was on “Silver Spoons”? I DO!

I had no idea “Saving All My Love” was about being a mistress until a couple of years ago. I was so scandalized!

Apparently, I loved her so much as a kid that I wrote to her and got an invitation to join her fan club. So, I was a member of the Whitney Houston Official Fan Club. I had a t-shirt and everything.

So, I loved her a lot is what I’m getting at. I mean, it was OFFICIAL. I just wish I had gotten a chance to see her in concert.

For the A to Z challenge, I’m blogging about fannish pursuits (aka things I’m a fan of or have strong feelings about). Tune in tomorrow to see what I picked for X!