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AARP The Magazine Exclusive: Natalie Cole Speaks Out For The First Time About Her Heart-Wrenching Story of The Tragic Loss of Her Sister and the Unforgettable Gift of Life from Organ Donation

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AARP Media Relations
202-434-2560
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AARP The Magazine Exclusive: Natalie Cole Speaks Out For The First Time About Her Heart-Wrenching Story of The Tragic Loss of Her Sister and the Unforgettable Gift of Life from Organ Donation
“I’ve lost some very special people, but Cookie [her sister] is the toughest. There’s a part of me that’s missing now. I don’t expect that I will ever totally get over it.” – Natalie Cole exclusively to AARP The Magazine

Only in the November/December Issue of AARP The Magazine

WASHINGTON (September 23, 2009)—Legendary songstress Natalie Cole is back on the music scene after receiving life-saving kidney transplant surgery in May 2009. In a highly emotional and wide-ranging interview, she spoke exclusively to AARP The Magazine about the night she left her dying sister’s bedside to face her own health crisis in a dramatic race against the clock for an organ transplant.

Gracing the cover of the November/December issue of AARP The Magazine (available September 24th and online at www.aarpmagazine.org), the 59 year-old Grammy Award-winning singer and daughter of Nat King Cole, candidly opens up for the first time about the grief she felt upon learning her sister Cookie had passed away during her own life-saving surgery, the struggles of dealing with her illness and dialysis treatments while performing on the road, how faith has helped her heal, and finding new purpose with a second chance at life.

ON THE NIGHT WHEN HER SISTER PASSED AWAY AND NATALIE’S LIFE WAS SAVED:
“I was in dire straits. It was a real bad situation, as far as I was concerned. Because everybody was so in shock about Cookie, they didn’t have real good sense.”

“It was like God’s hand was orchestrating the whole thing.”

“I was getting good news and very bad news at the same time. This was a very joyous moment where I’ve got new life. It was also a very sorrowful moment, where my sister had gone on, and the family that donated the kidney had lost their daughter as well. My first reaction was that I wished I were back on dialysis to have my sister. These two people had left this earth— and I was here. Why? I feel like I don’t deserve it.”

“I’ve lost some very special people, but Cookie is the toughest. There’s a part of me that’s missing now. I don’t expect that I will ever totally get over it.”

HOW FAITH HELPED NATALIE HEAL:
“Those angels on my shoulder who’ve been there all along—now I know that my sister Cookie is one of them.”

“When I look back, I can see the hand that has plucked me out of or put me into special situations. I don’t totally understand it. I know that God has had my back, even when I was screwing up. And I now know he has a plan for me.”

“We are born with two kidneys and only need one to survive. Maybe God gave us the other one so that we could give it away.”

HOW SHE DEALT WITH A HEPATITIS C DIAGNOSIS AND MONTHS OF ILLNESS:
“It just felt like I was dying.”

“As miserable as I was, once I started singing, I felt better.”

“It was just extraordinary to me that this had been dormant in my body for something like 25 years.”

“It was tough, but I felt if I didn’t push myself, I would probably either die or just crumble.”

“They told me the average wait for a kidney was three years. At first I thought, ‘There goes my life.’”

“I’d sometimes fly for 14 hours, then go straight to dialysis. I spent a little time being tired, but we managed. I’m not a pity-party person.”

HOW ORGAN DONATION CHANGED HER LIFE:
“To have your life saved by someone you don’t even know—oh, God. God bless them.”

“I didn’t know that I could feel this good again.”

“You get sick, and then you get well, and if you don’t have more compassion for human beings after, then something’s definitely wrong.”

Additional quotes from her son and close friends can be found online at www.aarpmagazine.org/entertainment PLUS an exclusive behind the scenes video of Natalie’s photo shoot for the cover of AARP The Magazine.

An image of the November/December cover of AARP The Magazine featuring Natalie Cole is available upon request.

About AARP The Magazine
With more than 35.5 million readers nationwide, AARP The Magazine (www.aarpmagazine.org) is the world's largest circulation magazine and the definitive lifestyle publication for Americans 50+. Reaching over 24 million households, AARP The Magazine delivers comprehensive content through in-depth celebrity interviews, health and fitness features, consumer interest information and tips, book and movie reviews and financial guidance. Published bimonthly in print and continually online, AARP The Magazine was founded in 1958 and is the flagship title of AARP Publications.