Excerpts from the Diary of a Diva

I'm watching the homegoing celebration of Andrae Crouch today. My history with Andrae goes back to when I was a child. My mom was a new Christian, and she LOVED his music. We'd listen to him in the car on the eight-track, and I was completely enthralled with it. One memory that stands out to this day was when Andrae was supposed to be in concert in Shreveport. In the days before GPS and cell phones, we drove around for HOURS looking for the venue. Finally, my mom just gave up and went home. It would be years later before I actually got to see Andrae live and in person. He wasn't performing, but it was so good for me to be in his presence. Now Pastor Crouch is gone, and I watch this celebration of his life, I'm humbled by the lives he touched all over the world. I'm moved by the way these people are paying tribute not only to his music and ministry, but to his love for Jesus and His people. It's a blessing to see that. Beyond that, it gives us all a roadmap...

I'm supposed to be deep in the throes of entertainment news, but I'm in my feelings this evening and I want to vent. For one, I am so happy with New Boo that I could scream. He's been on vacation since last week, and I've really enjoyed having him around. He goes back to work tomorrow and while it'll free me up to talk to my mom and my friends, I know I'm going to miss him. We went to the laundromat today. While we were there washing our clothes, a girl came to the door fussing at her lover. We were both taken aback because her loud, brash tone shattered the calm of the place. We looked at each other like, "Dang...really?" We decided to let the clothes do their thing while we shopped around. As we ambled through the aisles, he said to me, "One thing I've learned since being with you is that it's not necessary to be with someone if you're angry all the time." In case I haven't stressed this enough, both of us came out of ...

"He must really like you." Huh? Some saleswoman came to the door trying to get me to switch cable companies. When I opened the door, the scent of the food New Boo and I were preparing hit her square in the face. She said, "Oh wow, something smells good. What are you making?" I told her we were doing pork chops. She was like, "Are you cooking or your husband?" I said, "We both are." The girl -- she couldn't have been more than 25 -- looked impressed as she said, "He must really like you." Mind you, she'd called him my husband and I didn't bother to correct her. So in her mind, the man I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with has to really like me for us to be able to cook together. As I thought about what she'd said, I got sad. What has this child seen that would make her think it was okay to marry a person who didn't like her? Was her life that devoid of love? It bothered me at first, but then I had ...

"He died suddenly." That's one of the lines from the obit of The Man Formerly Known as The One. Yes...the guy I dated earlier last year. The guy I left to date New Boo. He passed away Monday night. His sister found him slumped over in their bathroom. The paramedics worked on him for almost an hour, but he was already gone. To say I was shocked would be a gross understatement. I was completely floored that a 50-year-old man would die. When I thought about our last interactions, I was sad. I wish there was something I could've said that would've turned him around. Alas, I won't get the chance now. As I told you before, The Man Formerly Known as The One was moody, aloof, and sometimes surly. And from what I'm told, he was like that until the very end. His brother was the one who broke the news to me with a simple Facebook message that said, "FYI, [The Man Formerly Known as The One] died tonight. No details. No trauma." Huh? Note to self ...