Whitney dies. And life goes on…

The year was 1987. I was nearing the end of my collegiate career in Norman, Ok. My best friend, Peggy Jean Lee, was on her way to visit me. My sole means of transportation, other than my feet, was a Yamaha Riva 180 scooter. This was fine for getting me to and from classes. Not so fine for showing a pretty girl around town. So I rented a car. It was a 1980-something Mercury Sable (aka Ford Taurus).

There are many great memories of the 8 days that we spent together. There has to be, but that’s the long version of our love story.  We went from good friends to best friends to (18 months later) an engaged couple. That Mercury Sable took us all over town. Our first date was a Cajun dinner followed by “Good Morning Vietnam.” Our last date on that visit was a Po’ Folks dinner and “Summer Rental.” In hindsight, some might say the week went downhill.

Some might be very wrong, but that’s another story. The story here is Whitney Houston. With the release of her second album was the first single, the first Whitney mega-hit, “I want to dance with somebody.” Peggy and I could not get in to that Mercury Sable rent-a-car, turn on the ignition and crank up the AC before we’d hear that song coming out the rear speakers. You think I’m exaggerating, but that’s the gospel truth. EVERY time we’d get in the car we’d hear that song playing. It got the point where we decided that was our “unofficial” song.

Fast forward to the fall of 1989 – I married the girl of my dreams. Our first dance was “How Sweet it Is (to be loved by you). The JT version. But we still joke about how our other song is Whitney’s “I Want to Dance with Somebody.” It’s a simple song with an overplayed melody. And to this day it is the song that reminds me of a lazy, hot summer in Norman, OK. A summer when I maxed out my credit card to date a girl that stole my heart. A girl that, with much courting, eventually chose me. And on that day my life changed. Forever.

Nearly 25 years later I remember Whitney on the day she day died.  On this day, I still want to dance with somebody, the somebody that loves me. Good thing I married her.