It’s been nearly a year since Whitney Houston’s tragic passing on February 11, 2012 from an accidental drowning and cocaine ingestion. Now, her mom, Cissy Houston, is speaking out for the first time in her new memoir, Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped.
Whitney Houston’s mom recently sat down with People to preview the memoir and discuss guilt over her daughter’s battle with drugs.
“I still wonder if I could have saved her somehow. But there’s no book written on how to be a parent. You do the best you can,” said Cissy.
A gospel star in her own right, Cissy Houston famously nurtured Whitney (affectionately called “Nippy” to family) and her golden voice from the church choir to superstardom. However, once Whitney began dabbling in drugs, she started avoiding her mother. “Whitney hid from me,” says Cissy, which made her afraid to confront her daughter for fear of losing her completely.
One person Cissy does not blame for Whitney’s drug problem is ex-husband Bobby Brown. “I blame him for the way he treated her,” she says, “but I don’t blame him for her drug problems.” Yet, Cissy admits Brown’s own battles with drugs and alcohol were “no help to her at all.”
Cissy also told People it has taken her nearly a year of grieving to be emotionally ready to speak about the tragedy. “Since my daughter died, I’ve struggled with so many things,” she said.
“I’m still so angry – at Nippy, at the world, at myself. Should I have done things differently? She was a person whose life and voice touched millions of people. I’m as proud as any mother could be about her daughter, but I would trade every last bit of it to have my baby back.”
Whitney’s mother will also sit down with Oprah Winfrey to elaborate on these feelings and remember Whitney’s life this Monday night (January 28 at 10/9C) on OWN. It will be her first televised interview since her daughter’s passing.
