Whitney Houston stayed at her friend Natalie Cole’s place during her vulnerable first few weeks of sobriety. Cole faced her own battles with alcohol, cocaine, and heroine and had the experience and patience to help Whitney get back on her feet:

Natalie Cole has rushed to the rescue of close pal Whitney Houston – refusing to let Whitney’s crushing debts and wrecked married drive her friend back to drugs…

A close friend diclosed: “Natalie made Whitney stay with her so she ould make sure she ate regularly, and kept her busy so she didn’t have idle time to crave drugs or get depressed…

In the late 1970s, [56 year-old] Natalie became addicted to cocaine and alcohol, and in 1973, she was busted for heroin possession. She won her struggle by entering rehab – and now has worked a miracle with her 43-year-old pal.

“Whitney is finally clean and doing wonderfully!” revealed the friend.

“Natalie could see symptoms in Whitney that no one else would recognize. She’s talked her through the weak moments when she wanted to take a hit or do a ‘little’ coke – and over time those moments were less and less.”

[From The National Enquirer print edition, January 29, 2007]

The article goes on to say that Whitney is back to her old self, and is happy and upbeat. She has a comeback CD in the works and has turned her life around.

That’s a touching story about one old friend helping another. I hope Whitney fully recovers from her lost years and starts kicking ass in the studio again. She should give that bitch Madonna a run for her money.