I’ve just been reading about Whitney Houston. I’ve read about her many times and enjoy her music. What astounds / intrigues me is why she wasn’t able to overcome her demons. One would think with all the fame and fortune that came her way, she would be happy but clearly not. Bad decisions, associating with the wrong moral fibre people, suspected child abuse when she was young, and so the list goes on. But you know, many people have it seriously tough in life from childhood. Dirt poor, alcoholic or drug addled parents etc and yet, somehow or other they get through it all to become relatively successful adults.
A book called A Million Rand Teaspoon almost became my “bible” in the days, weeks , months and eventually years of my son’s addiction. Paul Bateman was from an affluent happy family in Ballito. From the age of 14 he’d found his heaven. Initially with weed and eventually anything he could get his hands on but he was definitely joined at the hip to Pinks which apparently was the drug most available in JHB in early 2000. After a near fatal overdose left him with cortical blindness amongst other problems he was no longer able to drug. I’m pretty sure he said in his book he’d have carried on drugging if he’d have been able! I read that book from cover to cover a dozen times trying desperately to make sense of why my son was intent on eventually killing himself… I just couldn’t make any sense of it! Tbc