The Day Princess Diana Died

I think every generation has one death that has a great deal of trauma on them. Meaning that most in the general population remembers where they were when they heard the news. John F. Kennedy is one and so was Elvis Presley and John Lennon. Princess Diana was also one of those. Most people can tell anyone at any given time about her wedding and her life in general. Now we can add her death on august 31, 1997, to that long list of dates we all can remember.

I remember very well. My family and I went to Toronto for a weekend vacation and to see family there.. We arrived on Friday night and on Saturday, we all went out to have a big day of sightseeing. It was getting late on Saturday so we all decided to go back to the hotel we was staying at. We were sitting around when a cousin of ours can bursting into the room screaming at the top of her lungs that Diana was badly hurt in a car accident on Paris.

Since my cousin was Canadian, she was very upset by the news. My sister quickly turned on the television and there was the news, showing the wreckage and giving minute by minute detail of how the accident occurred and how Diana was doing. Time just seemed to stand still because before I knew it, Diana had passed away. I still remember how gloomy Toronto seemed afterwards.

Driving around Toronto that night, it was very quiet. Not the busy Toronto I knew of. The busy town seemed almost like a ghost town. Everywhere I went, no one was talking or laughing or anything. Every television was on a news station with more breaking news coming in from Paris. Sunday was worse yet. Sure people went on about their day but there was a sadness in the air. People just wouldn't hardly say a word, for the "them poor boys'.

Referring of course to Diana's two sons. We came back to Michigan that Sunday night, and there was no difference. The news networks still had the latest breaking news from Paris and England. The next few days though, something strange happened. It almost felt for a few days, the world was almost one. Meaning that, the outpouring of love, sympathy, and respect for Diana was absolutely amazing.

The flower memorials, all those people standing in line to sign the guest book where Diana was lying in state, and to the funeral. I remember getting up extra early that morning to watch the funeral and I can recall how emotional it all was. To this day, just reading about that time period can bring back those memories. I remember my dad always talking about where one was when JFK was shot. And now it is, where was one when Diana died.