Aretha to JET: "The Lord is going to bring me through"
From JET:
Exclusive Interview:
Aretha Franklin: 'The Lord Is Going To Bring Me Through' by Clarence Waldron
Aretha Franklin appreciates friendship. People who are there when you need them most. And her friends have been praying for her and rallying around her.
Some who have stood by her during her recent surgery and prayed for her speedy recovery include Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey, Tavis Smiley, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, Condoleezza Rice and "the women of gospel" - Shirley Caesar, Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark Cole and Vanessa Bell Armstrong.
The singer says she doesn't want to forget anyone who has supported her. "I appreciate every prayer and every well wish that has gone out in my direction from people I know and don't know."
She and longtime friend Ronald Isley sing the Carole King classic, "You've Got a Friend" on his new CD, Mr. I.
That song seems to sum up how she feels about the friends who have rushed to her side. The lyrics say: "You just call out my name and you know where I am, I'll come running ... to see you again. ... Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you got to do is call and I'll be there. ... you've got a friend ..."
Isley told JET that he talked to the Queen of Soul after her hospitalization for surgery. "We talked about everything in show business she wants to do", he said. "We talk every day now."
In an exclusive interview with JET, her first since a recent surgery that she described as "highly successful", Franklin said: "I feel great. The doctors say I can do whatever I feel like I am up to do. Of course, that doesn't mean any concerts or anything like that. But I can do things around the house, and today I am just piddling around the house." She said the doctors want her to recuperate for about eight weeks.
Franklin promised JET that she would soon reveal what is ailing her. But for now, she wants to follow her physicians' request and just rest. "I am putting Aretha together first. We will put Ree Ree together first. This is Aretha time to do whatever it is that I need to do. But I will talk more later."
She has received an outpouring of support from her celeb friends. She received floral arrangements, phone calls, visits and other expressions of support. "Stevie Wonder was there when I came out of surgery and he prayed for me", she revealed. "Those are the things that I really need, loving support and prayer, the sho' nuff real stuff that will get you up and keep you going."
She particularly appreciates her sister friends who have rallied around her, especially the gospel performers. "They know that I am a lot more than the girl in the pink Cadillac on the 'Freeway of Love' who also sings about 'Respect'. They know I am a praying woman. They pray without ceasing for me. I went through on His Word. I sho' nuff know the Word", she says.
She appreciates "the great sisterhood" that has demonstrated their love for her. "Sisterhood is so important. It really means a lot because it is solid. The sisters came together over me. They can put it together and they can pull it together. They said, 'What is it that you need? What needs to be done?' Don't think the sisters can't handle it. We can handle it", she declares. "And we have to be reciprocal in that manner. People don't know whose help they may need. People support you, you support them."
Franklin, who has a private nurse at her suburban Detroit home, thanks her family friend Willie Wilkerson, her sons, niece Sabrina and cousin Brenda for standing by her side. "My family has been with me every step of the way. I couldn't have done it without them, that's for sure."
She admits that this has been a challenging chapter in her life. "I was a little shook, and I was frightened at times, but I have never faltered. I have never faltered in my faith. The Lord is going to bring me through."
