A RUMINATION ON THE WHITNEY HOUSTON BIOPIC, "I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY": ADDICTION, DIVAHOOD, HEATH LEDGER, BARBARA HOWAR, MICHELLE WILLIAMS, AND HOWARD MOSS
Thank you Kevin. I love this piece and all the thoughtful weaving together of such various folks including yourself. A writer you are indeed. And a happy and a healthy New Year to you.
Jan 4, 2023·edited Jan 4, 2023Liked by Kevin Sessums
When I was 14 I tried suicide. I say tried because to me I wasn’t ‘committing’ suicide. I felt invisible & lonely & scared and awkward and after my stomach was pumped @ the hospital and I came home - it was books & words that made me know I wasn’t alone in my pain. Words saved me. I wanted to be a writer because to me writers were - and are - heroes. True heroes. #PenSwords. Thank you for this. I met Whitney when my husband worked on Preachers Wife. She was often late & often sad and often stoned and it was Robin who would come & comfort her. Robin loved her so. Whitney gave my husband a beautiful gift, with a beautiful note, at the end of the shoot. You’re a remarkable man, Kevin. Thank you for showing us so much through your gorgeous words and that, yes, we matter.
I’m wondering, Kevin, if sobriety has sharpened your memories and whether you’re uncovering parts of the past long forgotten in the fog of addiction long gone?
Thank you for this. It touched me very deeply, as I was admittedly rather obsessed with Barbara Howar, at one time. Your words never fail to move me.
thanks you... hearing that moves me
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am constantly enthralled by your thoughts and writing.
thank you . .that means a lot
Thank you Kevin. I love this piece and all the thoughtful weaving together of such various folks including yourself. A writer you are indeed. And a happy and a healthy New Year to you.
thank you so much ... sending you a happy new year
Another amazingly poignant read, Kevin, thank you. And as you so aptly state, “it just is”. One day at a time. And in your words, “onward”. Onward.
thank you so much
When I was 14 I tried suicide. I say tried because to me I wasn’t ‘committing’ suicide. I felt invisible & lonely & scared and awkward and after my stomach was pumped @ the hospital and I came home - it was books & words that made me know I wasn’t alone in my pain. Words saved me. I wanted to be a writer because to me writers were - and are - heroes. True heroes. #PenSwords. Thank you for this. I met Whitney when my husband worked on Preachers Wife. She was often late & often sad and often stoned and it was Robin who would come & comfort her. Robin loved her so. Whitney gave my husband a beautiful gift, with a beautiful note, at the end of the shoot. You’re a remarkable man, Kevin. Thank you for showing us so much through your gorgeous words and that, yes, we matter.
thank you for your kind words .. they - and you - mean the world to me
I’m wondering, Kevin, if sobriety has sharpened your memories and whether you’re uncovering parts of the past long forgotten in the fog of addiction long gone?
not really sharpened them just given them better context
If we could have known then what we know now and believed it. Maybe wisdom isn’t learned unless it’s earned.