I Am: Céline Dion

I logged in to work this morning and booted up my personal PC to put something on in the background while I worked. I trotted on over to Prime to pull up Sunday in New York, which I bought a few days ago. When the main Amazon screen popped up it scrolled over to announce a new documentary on singer extraordinaire, Céline Dion. Ooo!! I do so love a documentary. So I put Ms. Fonda's film on hold for the moment and hit play for Ms. Dion. It's impossible to see Céline Dion and not think about Michael. Oh my gosh, the number of times we would be out driving around through the Pine Barrens in Jean-Michel, me smoking Fantasia Lights and Michael on USA cheap-ass cigarettes, and blasting Céline Dion is innumerable. I played It's All Coming Back to Me Now (one of the best songs ever) and Michael lost his mind. He'd never heard that track before (not sure how that's possible) and we had it on repeat over and over and over on so many drives. "This song is as good as really great sex. It's orgasmic!" (Sidebar: Michael was actually in my dream last night at a picnic table somewhere. It was so good to see him and get a hug.) 

I really admire Ms. Dion for taking part in this documentary and showing herself at such a vulnerable point in her life. It was so upsetting to see her in pain, be it mental or physical, and to know she has, hopefully only for the time being, lost the range of her singing voice. No matter what she was dealing with, she always came across as overwhelmingly kind and polite to everyone with whom she interacted. It's no surprise that I was choked up at many moments, but none more so then when she had a spasm which led to a full seizure. She was shaken, embarrassed, and unable to move or speak. Throughout it all her physical therapist and an aide, named Brian, kept her calm and reassured her that she was okay. When Brian kept soothing her and referring to her as Boss, I lost it and dissolved into a puddle of tears. What a relief to know that she has such genuinely caring people at her side to comfort her during these traumatic times. Through it all, Ms. Dion never lost her positive attitude. A class act straight across the board. I hope she knows that all the fans that came to see her in concert and buy her albums, we didn't do it merely because we love her voice, we did it because we love her. Her voice was a gift to her but she is clearly the gift to us. What an absolutely remarkable woman. 

(photo kidnapped from celinedion)