For this quarter I chose to do Angel on my Shoulder by Natalie Cole. In her book she describes her struggles of drug use in her life. In the introduction of the story she briefly talks about all the ways she thought she was going to die “DAUGHTER OF NAT KING COLE DIES IN VEGAS HILTON INFERNO” (1). “DAUGHTER OF NAT KING COLE, HIGH N LSD, LEAPS FROM 20TH FLOOR DORM WINDOW… DAUGHTER OF NAT KING COLE ODS ON HEROIN IN TENEMENT DRUG DEN BATHROOM” (2). She believes that every time she should have died, God saved her. I’m sure all the near death experiences would be traumatizing. One particular time proved that an angel was on her side. Cole was in a hotel in Vegas with her body guard Nate. There was a bad fire in the hotel, and they were trapped inside her room. She was about to get light a pipe and get high. She prays, “Now lord if you let me take a hit off this pipe, then that means I’m finished. I’m going to get high, and then I’m going to die…You’re either going to save me, or I’m going to get so high I’m not even going to feel the flames” (8). At that moment, firemen burst in and rescued them. Nate and Cole were rushed to the hospital. Nate had suffered from smoke inhalation and died a few years later. I think this is very sad. Her cousin that also was in the hotel suffered and died from respiratory problems. If this happened to me, I would feel guilty that people who worked with me and related to me died when I did not.
In the next two chapters, Cole describes her childhood. As she was growing up, she was a tomboy and spoiled. The reason why she was a tomboy, though, was very understandable. He wasn’t home very often because singing took up most of his time. When he was home, he just wanted to be a father to his kids. Natalie Cole wanted to be closer to her father, so she liked whatever he liked. Also, hr father wanted a boy really badly, and she filled that position until they adopted a son. One particular story she told, I could relate to. She talked about how one summer, her parents sent her and her sister, Cookie (or Carole) to a camp on
3 comments:
It would seem to me that after so many near death experiences one would appreciate life more, realize that they could overcome whatever they were going through at that time. But for Natalie Cole it seems to make her feel invincible. Instead of looking to god to help her do the right thing, she goes on doing what she is doing expecting him to save her. I thought it was very selfish her to stay in the burning building because it is one thing to put yourself in danger but she put the firemen who had to save her and her body guard in danger. It seemed sad to me how she could go from the young girl talked about in paragraph two to the drug addicted woman in the first paragraph.
I think that it would be extremely difficult to write about and tell other people about something so hard as a drug addiction and Cole must be very strong to have done this. It surprised me that she was the daughter of Nat King Cole, but I guess that really shows how depression and drug abuse can happen to anyone. If I were her I would have felt so guilty for killing others in the fire and not myself, it really would have been hard to deal with afterwards.
Natalie Cole seems like a rather unstable person. Especially during the fire situation-- my first reaction would be to demand why God had saved the drug addict and not the loyal bodyguard and innocent cousin. *shrugs* Then again, lucky for her I suppose. I don't know, but I feel that the way you described Natalie Cole makes her seem incredibly selfish and yet well supported. Your whole 'she liked going to camp thing' confused me, as it didn't support the paragraph before it saying that Natalie didn't have a good home life. I wonder if the drugs have anything to do with it-- the fact that she seems so selfish, that is. Her life seems sort of ludicrously sad-- an interesting biography!
Post a Comment