I still can’t hear Patti LaBelle sing without thinking of Michelle. She’d blast LaBelle’s “If Only You Knew” so loud each night that the muffled sound of the singer’s voice would come through my bedroom windows. “ ’Cause you don’t even suspect, could probably care less, about the changes I’ve been going through,” Patti sings with a tear in her voice. “If only you knew.” It’s heartbreaking for reasons I could never explain.
