Bobby Brown ‘Leaning On The Power of Prayer’: A Look At His Controversial Stance On Bobbi Kristina’s Life Support

It’s probably difficult for Bobby Brown to look at his life over the years: the height of stardom, a once loving relationship with a beautiful pop singer, a perfect daughter. In retrospect, as one watches the video of his smash hit “Every Little Step I Take,” his enthusiasm and happiness is palpable. His situation was lavish, bright, enviable.

Twenty-five years later, time and fate have taken a significant toll on the once popular star. Alleged addiction to cocaine, a floundering marriage fraught with abuse that ended badly in divorce, and a very strained and distant relationship with his only child became the reality of his life. His career tanked, likely leaving him in a desperate place that is hard to imagine.

In the years that followed, pain became a companion of Bobby’s when his ex-wife was found dead in a bathtub in 2012. Whitney Houston died of an overdose, drowning, and a complication of heart disease. Toxicology showed drugs in her system at the time of her death. While nobody can take responsibility for another’s actions, much of the public blamed Bobby for turning Whitney Houston, once a wholesome, healthy star into a drug addicted and anguished soul.

Although Bobby reportedly tried to support Bobbi Kristina, who unfortunately had been present at the scene of her mother’s death, the Houstons allegedly made it known Brown was not welcome to be by his daughter’s side during his ex-wife’s funeral. In the years that followed, reports from various sources, including Nick Gordon, Bobbi Kristina’s long-time boyfriend, who she referred to as her husband, said that Bobby and Bobbi Kristina’s relationship was strained and distant.

Today, Bobby Brown keeps near constant vigil at his daughter’s bedside, praying beyond all reason that she will wake up and be unscathed from her own ordeal, which was eerily similar to her mother’s — she, too, was found unconscious in a bathtub at her home in Georgia. In the weeks that have followed, her condition has not improved, and sources say she has continued to deteriorate as it is believed that whatever happened to Bobbi Kristina — which police are still investigating and are not ruling out homicide — caused her brain to go far too long without oxygen, a condition called hypoxia. This hypoxia killed much of Bobbi Kristina’s brain cells and likely will be what ends up killing her.

Still, a man sits at a bedside. He’s lost his career, his wife to divorce and then to death, and now his only child has been given virtually no chance of survival. He has not much to hold on to, but he reportedly continues to hold on to his faith. While many blame him for Whitney’s downfall and Bobbi Kristina’s extremely difficult grief reaction that followed, it may not be fair to blame him for holding out hope that his only daughter will improve.

Meanwhile, other members of Bobbi Kristina’s family, including Cissy Houston, 81, have had to come to terms with some harsh realities that Bobby Brown may not agree with. They reportedly think Bobbi Kristina should be taken off life support, which Bobby Brown has thus far refused.

It has often said that life imitates art. It’s difficult now to listen to the lyrics of a number one hit of Whitney Houston’s aptly named power ballad “Didn’t We Almost Have It All.”

“Didn’t We almost have it all, when love was all we had worth giving? The ride with you was worth the fall, my friend. Loving you makes life worth living.”

As Bobby sits in vigil at his daughter’s bedside and light fades into night each day, it’s likely that a million memories and snippets of his former life run through his mind. While many may never agree with his choices, it is difficult to not have sympathy for a man who once had said much and now has lost everyone and everything that once mattered. Money cannot buy happiness, love, or health, and it cannot protect you from losing your only child. For someone who really did almost have it all, the enormity of this harsh lesson is likely nearly too hard to bear.

[Photo credit to UrbanIslandz]