I Hope It’s A Rumor
The internet can be mean, malicious, and heartless. Rumors spread in the land of internet like wildfire; I have taken the stance to believe only what I can prove by my own research. This morning, I read here that the mystery illness that Aretha Franklin had surgery for last week is pancreatic cancer.
I hope it’s a rumor.
Aretha Franklin (or Auntie Ree as I affectionately call her; she’s a member of my family in my mind) has been singing in my ear since I was born. As a child, I remember being absolutely fascinated that such a beautiful sound could come out of a person. Such power and conviction, all tangled up in music that was so grounded in gospel that it was hard to establish if even her biggest hits weren’t about the good Lord and his blessings. I even have a cousin who was named for her; that is the extent of how Auntie Ree is worshipped by almost everyone in my family.
Hearing this bit of “news” this morning has me feeling hot and cold, weak and strong, all at the same time. Folks don’t give much credence to how people in the public eye shape your life, change your outlook, impact how you feel and act and what you do. There are icons, and then there is everyone else. Michael Jackson = icon. Luther Vandross = icon. Beyonce = on her way to being an icon. But the icon of all icons, the one that is truly worthy of bowing and lowering your eyes if you are ever lucky enough to be in her presence, is Aretha Franklin.
That is why I am praying that this rumor is just that…a rumor. Who will we have left if the world is devoid of Aretha Franklin’s brightly burning star? There is no one who is ready to take her place, and that is rightly so. She is a Queen, the Queen, and there is no one who can even touch her resplendence.
But I will not focus on the possibility of losing Auntie Ree; I will instead celebrate her by listening to the gifts that she has dropped over the span of her musical career. I will wrap myself in the voice that has pulled me out of some deep recesses, and pray that this is all just a rumor.
video credit: originally uploaded to YouTube on May 8, 2008 by LegrandnjClassicSoul
*update* Aretha Franklin’s condition has supposedly been confirmed by a member of her family. Let’s lift her in our prayers.
