The Parallelism in Bobbi Kristina Brown and Mom Whitney Houston

It has been three years since the world mourned the death of worldwide singing sensation Whitney Houston. Everyone considered it a tragic loss but everyone also kind of expected it. Houston, 48, died last February 11, 2012 in what seemed to be the result of a lethal concoction of prescription drugs and alcohol that led to drowning.

And now, we are once again fed with the news that Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was found unconscious, face down, in a bathtub full of water. If she was not discovered soon enough, she would have drowned like her mother.

It was reported that there were drugs found in Bobbi’s system. Thankfully, she was saved from the same ill-fated ending that her mother went through. She is now reportedly recovering in a hospital.

What struck me was that, this happened to Bobbi about 2 weeks before her mother’s 3rd death anniversary. I am suspecting that she is remembering her mother and instead of coping with grief in a healthy way, she resorted to taking drugs and drinking at the same time. I don’t know the whole story though, so I can only guess.

That is a really sad legacy that Whitney has left her only child. Growing up, Bobbi was surrounded with the limelight, with paparazzi, with people hanging around pretending to be friends with her family. But when everything and everyone goes away, they return home and her parents (Bobbi’s father is Bobby Brown) probably just hole themselves up and resort to drinking and taking drugs. (I am just imagining the scenario. Perhaps, they never even went home.)

I believe that parents model to their children many things, including how they deal with problems, disappointments, and grief. And if we show our kids that handling problems should be equated with the amount of drugs and alcohol we consume, they are most likely going to follow suit (except for a few exceptions). Yes, there is such a thing as generational sin or curse that gets passed on to our children and their children (if they survive long enough). But that is a different matter altogether.

As a mother, I really feel sad about this. I do not judge Whitney Houston and her parenting skills. I don’t intend to desecrate her memory either. I believe she loved her daughter as much as we love our children. She was just lost in a world of drugs and alcohol and now her daughter is in it, too. Only God knows what she went through when she was alive. If there is any point to this article, and if there is anything that Whitney Houston has left us, it is that we should be careful with the things that we model to our children. Their situation is like a reminder to us, whether we are on alcohol and drugs or not, that these two things have never been beneficial to us and our children. Before we take anything, let us not just think of ourselves but also the young ones that look up to us.

And with that, I really hope that Bobbi Kristina Brown will do better, fight for her life, be sober, and become an encouragement to many.