In my house when I was a little girl, you hear the sounds of the O'Jays, Bobby Womack, EWF and the man himself, Barry White. I believed my mom when she said she was going to marry Barry. I heard it so often that it became apart of my everyday life. And so was his music. Of course as a kid, you "say" you don't like your parent's music...but I grew to love him as much .....ok maybe not as much as my mom. So I guess I should have seen it coming when I got a frantic call from her while I was in midst of work. Boy did I get an EARFUL!
I started working as the Maitre'd for Georgia Brown's Restaurant in Washington D.C. while I was attending Howard University. I was also the Events Coordinator. (On some weekends, I also performed during Sunday Jazz Brunch). Having just opened at the time, it quickly became the hot spot for private events, birthday dinners, anniversaries, you name it. (I had a couple who were celebrating their wedding anniversary try to set me up with their God-son who wasn't even there with them. lol He actually turned out to be a very nice guy.)
Like Luther Vandross' staff before him, Barry White's team arranged to have a luncheon at the restaurant, in which I believe the attendees were radio contest winners.....or something like that. As you might imagine, it was quite a mad-house with Mr. White's staff wanting to make sure every detail was perfect and the 30 or so attendees itching to get closer to him. My head was spinning, because although it was truly a team-effort to make things run smoothly, it was my name Mr. White's staff was accustomed to calling for assistance. My job was to make them happy and be sure that the GB staff were well-informed on what was expected. In the midst of it all, Mike (my manager) tells me "You have a call". I asked if he could run interference for me......then he says "It's your mom". Knowing that my mom wasn't the type to be kept on hold, I immediately took the call.
The first thing out of her mouth was, "Why didn't you tell me my husband was going to be there?". Respectfully, I tell her that she had some competition because every other woman in the building had their eyes on him. She was not happy about that.......because in her mind, he was all hers. It's funny how we always have an image of young girls trying to get to Justin Beiber....these "mature" women weren't any better. There were women who showed up just because they "heard" he'd be there. Man, the energy in that room was nothing like I had felt before. GROWN WOMAN energy.......you gotta be grown to understand it. ;)
Here's wishing Mr. Barry White a Happy Birthday. Thank you for being on the soundtrack of my life....and for almost being my step-dad. RIP, Mr. White.
September 12, 1944 - July 4, 2003
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