So many people are crawling out of the woodwork in the death of ANS; seems like everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. In this case, it’s one of Smith’s lesbian girlfriends, Sandi Powledge.
Powledge gave an “exclusive interview” to the Houston Chronicle about the early years of ANS’ life before she met fame and fortune.
They met at a gay bar in North Houston with ANS pursuing Powledge. I think Powledge might be convoluting the story here because do y’all see her photo up there? She’s kind of homely and she didn’t have much money either– so what’s the point in dating someone ugly if they don’t have money (this is purely from an ANS point of view)?
Basically the interview is just Powledge crying about how ANS died. They didn’t even have contact for twelve years! I mean, if someone had told me some crazy pyscho cheating shit I used to date up and died, I would be like, “Oh. *awkward pause* So what’s for dinner? I’m starving!”
During one point in the interview, Powledge said,
“She was a kind, loving, caring person who didn’t know how to handle what happened to her. When I look back, I’m going to remember how she was with me. … I’ve got a lot of great memories.”
Then later on in the interview, she paints another portrait of ANS:
Smith expected exclusivity from Powledge and gave her a pager and cellular phone so they could remain in constant contact even while Smith was out of town.
“She told me, ‘I’d better not hear music in the background when I call you.’ She didn’t want me at a club with my friends when she’s going off doing her thing,” Powledge said.
Smith’s infidelity became a source of fights. Smith’s aunt, Elaine Tabers, who along with her husband lived with their famous niece at the ranch in the Cypress-Rosehill area, would often persuade Powledge to make peace.
“Elaine would always tell me, ‘Don’t say anything. If you love her, leave it as it is,’ ” Powledge recalled. “She’d tell me to hang on and work this out.”
But there were other concerns, as well. Even in those early days of fame, Smith had a taste for pills and alcohol, Powledge said.
“I’d say, ‘Can’t we just have a night without it?’ She’d say, ‘Yeah.’ But as the night wore on, I could always tell by her slur or the look on her face,” said Powledge, who would later struggle with drugs herself, long after breaking up with Smith.
As Smith grew more famous and left town more often, their contact grew less frequent, and Powledge tired of waiting for her. She moved back to her hometown of Winnsboro, 100 miles east of Dallas, without telling Smith, sparking a fight. Smith angrily demanded that Powledge return to Houston to see her, and Powledge did, driving 260 miles through a violent rainstorm with her brother.
No wonder why she died. No one ever said “no” to her; she was constantly surrounded by enablers who wanted a bit of the life she had. I’m sure when Powledge saw the limo ANS came in to pick her up for their first date she was like, “Whoo ee, that’s a fancy machine-driven carriage!”
It sounds like she tried to push her insecurities off on everyone else and manipulated and emotionally abused everyone around her. The more I read about ANS, the harder and colder my heart gets.
And this lady needs some massive therapy, because if she’s still clinging onto a photo album of Smith and cries when talking about some lying manipulative ho she dated over a decade ago, she really has issues.
Oh and what is also interesting is that ANS made her do a commitment ceremony too over water… specifically the diving board at ANS’ Spring, Tx home. No KFC was served.
Read the whole barfy article here. Also, Powledge gave the same interview (seriously what can change in 12 years of no communication?) back in ‘99 to the Houston Press and the Dallas Observer, sister indie newspapers.
