Columba Bush tells of heartbreak over daughter's problem

ORLANDO -- Florida first lady Columba Bush told high school students at a drug prevention conference Tuesday that her "heart is broken" over her only daughter's addiction to illegal substances.

"My heart is broken because my daughter has a problem," Bush told the students at the Florida Statewide Drug Prevention Conference in Orlando.

Her daughter, Noelle Bush, is undergoing treatment at a drug rehabilitation center a few miles from where the conference was being held.

Last month, Noelle Bush was jailed for 10 days for violating the terms of her treatment program. She was ordered to attend drug treatment after she was arrested in January for allegedly trying to use a fraudulent prescription.

"Today I'm not going to make a speech -- I'm just going to tell you the story of my life," Columba Bush began her address to the students. Bush recounted how she met Jeb Bush, Florida's future governor, when she was 16 and living in central Mexico. She talked about how they fell in love, married and how she moved to the United States and put aside her aspirations to be an artist in Mexico City.

When her father-in-law decided to run for president, Jeb Bush planned to help him campaign while Columba Bush took care of their children.

"I thought 'What do I do now?' My husband is gone and I would have to take care of my two babies, and be campaigning and do all these things that I had never imagined that I would do," she said.

Bush talked about having met heads of state, kings and queens. But she said no amount of privilege can keep away the pain of a loved one's drug addiction. For that reason, she said she has been championing drug prevention programs for eight years.

"The minute I realized that my daughter faced the same temptations that most of the children face each day, I decided to devote my life to this cause," she said.

Students attending the conference said they were impressed with Bush's openness.

"That took a lot of courage," said LeLe Chen, a junior at Miami Palmetto Senior High.

Natalie Wethington, a sophomore at Pedro Menendez High School in St. Johns County, said the personal story hit home with students.

"The fact that it could happen to someone so high up means a lot to students," she said.

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