Celebrity deaths always cause me to contemplate my own mortality and nothing cuts deeper than the death of a diva. For days I’ve been thinking about what exactly to say about Whitney Houston’s tragic death. But, after watching the E! News Whitney Houston Special, I think that I’ve finally come to realize how Whitney has touched my life. Having been born in 1986, I was just a child throughout the height of Whitney’s amazing career. My first memories of her occurred while listening to the radio in my mother’s old mini van on the way to school, dance classes, and orthodontist appointments.

Once Whitney’s flawless voice hit the airways, everything seemed to fade away. I’d sit back in the passenger’s seat staring at my reflection in the rear view mirror wondering if my less than confident self could ever exude the genuine confidence of Whitney Houston. Little did I know that more than 10 years later, I’d hear of her death via Twitter on a not so quiet night in Harlem still trying the to understand all the emotions she so famously sang about and remembering all the forgotten hours I once spent driving around in my mother’s mini van.