Twice I Cried Over 2 Women I Never Met

Ever cried over a celebrity's death as if they were a family member? This happened to me twice. Princess Diana and Whitney Houston did it for me! The announcements of their death and the highly publicized funerals had me in a river of tears. I can't explain why but my emotions ran high and the tears poured. Both funerals bring me back to memories of places I worked.

In 1997 I worked the overnight shift at a hospital on the Brain Injury Unit. My coworker was an African from Nigeria and boy was he in love with Princess Diana. Not a lovey dovey type of love. He simply loved the essence and being of Princess Diana. His love for her eventually rubbed off on me as I began to take particular notice of her class and grace. She seemed to have a genuine care and concern for people from all walks of life; not for show. Genuinely. Inevitably, I fell in love with her too.

Princess Diana's funeral was plastered on all the channels. This was 1997, we're talking mainstream media tv, not YouTube. Working the overnight shift we were allowed to watch tv since there wasn't much to do with patients at this hour. My Nigerian coworker and I binge watched all of the funeral footage all night and cried like babies. He and I have been great friends ever since.

Photo of People Magazine with Princess Diana and Whitney Houston on the covers

The death of Whitney Houston touched my soul! Whitney played a huge part in my coming of age. I remember You Give Good Love and Saving All My Love invoked feelings in my young body that I couldn't explain. Whitney's music carried me from the days of crushes to full grown relationships. Her music was the soundtrack of multiple stages of my life. Many of us grew up and progressed through our lives to the sound and life of Whitney Houston. We got to watch her highs and lows, loves and losses. No matter what, we LOVED Whitney Houston.

The news of Whitney Houston's passing struck a cord in me and I couldn't hold it together. Unlike the time of Princess Diana's demise, social media was prevalent and the stories and conspiracies regarding her passing were all over the place. At that time I didn't care about any of the conspiracies. Whitney was gone and there was no undoing it.

At the time of Whitney's passing I was the manager of an apartment complex. Attached to the Leasing Office was a model apartment and of course, the model apartment had a tv with working cable service. No matter what appointments we had set up that day I was NOT going to miss the broadcast of her funeral service. The tv in the model apartment was on and set to the correct channel.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The funeral was broadcasting and I was standing between the office and the model watching the tv trying not to miss a beat. A lady came in for her appointment to see an apartment and noticed I was watching the funeral. She joined me in the model in front of the tv and we both cried watching the funeral. Looking back, it was one of the saddest but funniest bonding moments I ever had in my life. Today, I can't remember if she leased an apartment or not but she was my teary-eyed bestie at that moment.

There you have it. I cried like a baby over two women I'd never met.