16 years ago tonight (08-31-2013)

It has been 16 years since that awful night.  Whatever program I was watching that evening had ended.  I was channel surfing, planning on a brief view of what was on the television that evening, and then turning off the television for the night.  I happened to stop on CNN, which was my main news source at that time.  It was clear that they were on one topic and not the usual fare either.  It was shocking to hear that Princess Diana had been in an horrific automobile accident and was in critical condition in a Paris hospital.
The television stayed on.  We waited for updates of Diana's condition.  Previously there had been such extreme oversaturation of Diana news that we had stopped paying attention to all of it.  Now we were praying for her.

She was a lovely young woman pulled, unwitting, into the public spotlight.  Convinced to join in an archaic ritual of a hierarchical 'official' marriage to a royal.  The "last" princess in our lifetime.  Poor innocent, led into a very public life and having to deal with personal struggles privately.  Not an ideal situation for anyone.  I say shame on the 'royal' family for what they put the poor woman through! and good for Diana for seeing that she needed to find her own way in the world.

Now, we waited.  Late into the night word finally came: she had not survived the crash, died at the scene.  How awful!! Spellbound by the news, we remained in front of our television all night long, finally turning it off at around 6:00am.  Extremely saddened.

The thing, for me personally, was that she was a contemporary of mine -- near to my own age.  That was what really caused her death to affect me deeply.  I was sad for many, many days after her terrible passing.
And now, 16 years later, I remember that night with sadness.  Rest In Peace Princess, Rest In Peace.