Coping with Whitney’s tragic loss

Making a TV reality show may not be the most obvious way to cope with the sudden death of a loved one but most families do not count an icon like Whitney Houston among their relatives. Less than a year after the I Will Always Love You singer drowned accidentally in a hotel bath tub after taking cocaine, Houston’s teen daughter, her mother, brother and sister-in-law share with the world their struggle to cope in The Houstons: On Our Own. Difficult as that is, the Houstons say that making the show for cable channel Lifetime has helped rather than hindered the process. “The show has kept the family close together, (instead of) isolated from one another. We talk about things, we are very open, and we pay attention to the ones who need consoling the most. Doing the show certainly has helped in a huge way,” Pat Houston, Whitney’s manager and sister-in-law,said. “There are preconceptions about the family that just aren’t true. We are a strong family, a working family, and a typical family. Our family member just happens to be an icon,” she added. “You will see a family that is grieving, that loves one another. You will see a family that is trying to move on.” The series sets the stage...