She experienced so much. Bobbi Kristina Brown, who died at age 22 on Sunday, July 26, dealt with a great deal of tragedy and heartbreak in her life, witnessing the tumultuous relationship between her parents, the late Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, and grappling with her mother's death at age 19.
On Feb. 11, 2012, Grammy-winning, chart-topping singer Houston was found unresponsive and submerged in the bathtub of her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton, where she had been staying. She was declared dead at age 48. The "How Will I Know" singer left behind her one and only daughter with Brown, Bobbi Kristina. Following her mother's death, Bobbi was catapulted into the spotlight, and did her best to put on a brave face.
On Houston
"No one knows what an amazing spirit she was,” Bobbi told Oprah Winfrey in March 2012, when she gave her first interview following her mother's death. “She wasn't only a mother, she was a best friend.”
Bobbi said she could feel her mother's presence with her at all times. "I can always feel her," she told Oprah. "I can always feel her with me. She always asked me,'Do you need me?' And I caught myself, out of nowhere, I didn't even know I said it, I said, 'I'll always need you.'"
On Faith
“I wake up at night,” she told Oprah in the same interview. “She would say, at 5 a.m., the saints start praying. I wake up now and look at the clock and it's 5 o'clock. I start praying."
Bobbi said in the interview that the lights in the house would go on and off, and she knew it was her late mother. “I'm like, 'Mom, what are you doing?'" the R&B scion shared. "I can still laugh with her and still talk to her."
On Her Career
"I have to carry on the legacy," Bobbi told Oprah in 2012. "We're going to do the singing thing. Some acting, some dancing."
On Her Reality Show, The Houstons: On Our Own
"There were very intimate moments that we had," she told Access Hollywood of the reality series in an October 2012 interview. "That we shared on camera. And we do miss her and we do love her. And we want to represent her in the most royal way that we possibly can. And that's all we know how to do.
On Her Strength
"My strength is my family. And knowing that she's watching down on us. You know?" she told Access Hollywood. "She's watching down and applauding and being happy and rejoicing. And her life and her legacy… There's many more gifts to come to her. This is just one of my gifts to her."
On Her Future — And the Lessons She Wanted Pass Along to Her Kids Someday
During the same interview, Bobbi was asked what lessons she would pass along to her future children that she's learned from her late mother. "Everything," Bobbi replied. "She taught me everything I know. She made me the woman who I am today. As well as my family. That's just another thing that I think that she's proud about. And we're all still together, and we're all hanging in there."
