Whitney and Josh

Just lovely.

I don’t know exactly what the date was in late 1985 that I tuned in to David Letterman’s show, the evening he had Whitney Houston as a guest? I really didn’t have much of an idea about who she was, though I did know she was Dionne Warwick’s cousin, and Dionne had been a chart-topper for many years, with many great tunes.

Whitney was 22 years old at the time, and when she came out to sing the song "Saving All My Love For You," she absolutely blew me away. She not only had a fabulous voice, singing a remarkable song, but she was stunningly beautiful. Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df5aaUbRx_s

All of that beauty and talent singing a song with lyrics to melt your heart, and make you question how any man wouldn't do anything for someone so seemingly perfect?

Whitney lost a lot along the way to all of the fame she would find. The young lady grew into a woman lacking whatever it was she needed to get clean – to avoid or forgo the drugs and the lifestyle that certainly killed her, and yesterday, when the news of her death was announced, she became just another sad story with a bad ending.

The Josh Hamilton story is really no different than Houston’s in my mind. Hamilton’s incredible talent is also there to marvel at, and to entertain us, and for many years he was unable to beat back the same demons that eventually killed Whitney.

I believe that drug/alcohol addiction is a disease that is not curable – once an addict, always an addict, and I have a lot of first hand knowledge on the subject, as many people do.

I'm rooting for him.

When Josh Hamilton decided to have a few drinks the other night, he claimed he was dealing with some personal problem that was so serious, he put his entire career and life on the line. For those of you that don’t suffer from being an addict, or having someone close to you suffer from the disease, it’s almost impossible to reconcile that it was normal behavior for Hamilton to go drinking. It’s abnormal for him to be sober, as anyone that’s attended a few AA meetings will testify to. The idea of drinking or using is always on his mind because it’s the answer to every problem he faces, the same way it is for the homeless guy sitting in an alley with a bottle of malt liquor.

Maybe Hamilton has the strength to do what Houston couldn’t do after another relapse, and maybe he doesn’t?

We will find out, one day at a time.