The two-time Grammy winner passed away on Monday at her home in New Jersey. She was 91 years old. Twelve years ago, she wrote a letter to her daughter, Whitney, who was found unconscious in a hotel bathroom at the age of 48 and could not be saved.
Cissy struggled deeply during this time. “Dear Whitney: the presence of God blessed our home with life, love, joy, and peace. You and your brothers were the center of divine love, attracting the richest blessings from God. You were a child of God. There was so much love in our home that truly came from above. You always gave without expecting anything in return, and our love was the force that multiplied those blessings more and more,” Cissy wrote to her daughter.
She assured that she had loved Whitney all her life and took a philosophical approach to the death of the singer of “I Will Always Love You.” Losing her child was a heavy blow for the mezzo-soprano.
“God said it was time. Just a few days ago, on February 11, he came for you. But not without warning. I’ve been depressed for two months, crying, lonely, and sad without knowing why,” Cissy noted.
She shared that strange events preceded the tragedy. Initially, the artist dismissed everything as pranks. However, Cissy was assured that no outsiders could disturb her.
“On Saturday, before I learned about your passing, someone rang my doorbell. I went to open it, but no one was there. The bell rang again and again, yet no one was around, so I called the concierge to tell him someone was ringing my door. He checked the cameras and told me there was no one there,” Cissy explained.
The former backup singer for Elvis Presley connected this incident to her daughter’s tragedy. Cissy admitted that she missed Whitney and reminisced about touching moments with her. The star of “The Bodyguard” could have simply called her mother while she was alive.
“You promised me you would come to spend time with me after the Grammys. I believe that spirits allowed you to come. How I love you and miss you, your beautiful smile, your special little things you would say to me, and sometimes you would just call to say: ‘Hi, Mommy, I love you so much.’ I loved you so much more. I love you, I will miss you, thank you for being such a wonderful daughter. Rest in peace, my little one; now you are in the arms of Jesus. With love, Mommy,” the singer added in her letter.
In her final moments, Cissy was surrounded by family and under hospice care due to Alzheimer’s disease. In 2015, Whitney and her ex-husband Bobby Brown’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, passed away at the age of 22. Following Cissy’s death, her loved ones stated that she could now “rest in peace alongside her daughter Whitney and granddaughter Bobbi Kristina and other beloved family members.”