You remember Princess Diana

This will not be an easy summer It was Saturday night and we were out with friends. We were at the bookstore, and my girlfriend and I were pouring over "Majesty" and "Royalty" magazines, looking at photos of Princess Diana, like we always did - at that point, completely and blissfully unaware of anything happening. When I got home, there was a message on our answering machine from my father-in-law. He knows what a fan I am of Diana's and his message said, "I am so sorry for you to hear the news about Princess Diana . . . I hope she makes it." I immediately ran in and turned on the TV, and saw the horrifying photos and learned the devastating news that she was dead. I sat in front of the TV for the next 48 hours, completely glued, barely eating or sleeping. It was so horribly sad. Many of my friends called me with their condolences as though one of my own family members had died. But then that's how it was with Princess Di . . . we all felt that she was indeed, a member of our own family. And we mourned her as such. It's one of those moments in time that are frozen in your memory forever, just the same as when JFK was killed. Ten years later, it still brings tears to my eyes and this won't be an easy summer of remembering. --Donna Borok Moss, San Rafael, CA (submitted on July 19, 2007)

Submitted by Bob Boudreau Diana 2: Diana, Charles, and Premiere Hatfield head towards a city square where thousands of people are waiting. I took these photos from the top of the Coast Guard maintenance building, as it offered me a good position to cover most of their arrival. I retired from the Canadian Coast Guard in 2001, after 35 years!

I often followed Diana's exploits mainly because I had the chance to see her in person in my home town. In June of 1983 Diana and Prince Charles visited our city on board the royal yacht Britannia. I was with the Canadian Coast Guard at the time, and since the ship was to be berthed at our dock in the center of the city, I had the opportunity to photograph the activities around the royal visit. While photography wasn't in my job description, I usually did much of it on the Base because of my long time interest in photography. I have copies of the color prints I took of the royal visit, and have scanned two to enclose with my story. --Bob Boudreau, Saint John, N. B. Canada (submitted on July 18, 2007)

A boy cries over her death I remember the night the world learned that Princess Diana passed away. I was 14 years old and had grown up so far with almost daily images of the royal family. That night I was visiting my father and some other family members when we saw a news flash on the TV saying Princess Diana had been injured in a car accident. I remember my father making a remark that there was probably nothing seriously wrong and he kept flipping through the channels. However, a family friend, visiting from London, insisted that we go back to the news channel to see the report. By the time we got back to the news channel the report had changed from an "injured" status to a "severely injured". Within a few minutes we learned that Princess Diana had been killed in the car accident. I remember everyone becoming silent and staying that way for quite a long time before anyone said anything. I believe everyone, just like myself, couldn't believe what they were hearing. One of the world's most beautiful and giving women had passed away. I cried that night. Princess Diana had been a central character in my childhood. I had grown up always hearing about her and her children who were similar in age. I was always awed by her image and the deeds she did. I will remember that night forever. I believe it is burned in my memory even more distinctly than the morning of 9/11. I think about Princess Diana very often and wonder what her life would have been like had she survived. Even now I am saddened thinking about her death. --Charles Hill, Greenville, NC (submitted on July 18, 2007)

Could not believe it "Mom, she's dead" Those were my older daughter's words that woke me up that dark morning. "Who", I asked, "Diana". Like she was a friend or relative. I got right up and went to the TV, I just could not believe it to be true, but it was. That is how Diana touched people, you just had to say "Diana" and you knew who. --mary smith, west palm beach, FL (submitted on July 18, 2007)

A minister remembers I was a Vicar in Bournemouth, England when I heard of the death of Princes Diana. It was Sunday morning and I received a telephone call from the powers that be to notify me of the news and told to go and open the church and be prepared for the impact of the news. I got up, prepared a new sermon for the morning services and headed to the church. The people poured into our churches and just needed some place of comfort and peace and assistance in making some forms of ritual to make sense of it all. Princess Diana was probably one of the most "real" people in the Royal Family and made the institution come back to life and relevant to the people of England. It is for this reason that the outpouring of grief is still so real and although time has moved on, she is still so very back loved and missed. I am now living and working in Los Angeles, CA, US and the feelings for Diana are similar here as they are in the UK. --Reverend Neil Thomas, West Hollywood, CA (submitted on July 17, 2007)

A peaceful morning shattered I woke up on Saturday morning in a Chicago Suburb on August 31st, 1997, groggy and in desperate need of coffee. Before I started the coffee, as is my usual routine, I turned on the television in the living room, listening to as I made coffee. While making the coffee and trying to wake up, something in my concious mind said, "something is going on- someone died". I tried to listen to the details as I poured the water in the coffee maker, trying to figure out what happened during the night. I walked into the living room; saw flashing lights, police cars, a tunnel, and just hearing words about an event. But then the words started making sense as to who was in the tunnel in Paris. Prince Charles-Royal Family- Sons William and Harry. "NO!" I think to myself. But as I poured my first cup of that coffee, I was fully awake, aware of the tragedy that happened during my peaceful sleep that summer. I was raised to believe beautiful princesses live happily ever after. This is a mistake, an error, I'm not really awake. I was. Then as reality settled into my head, I started to cry like a baby. The sweet girl, who married a Prince, who should have lived happily ever after, is gone. By that time, she had been through so much, and became a woman of distinction in her own right, this just wasn't fair. The world was robbed of a glorious person, and her potential of doing so much good in the world. And her boys- they'd been so much because of the divorce. Now it's been 10 years, and it's almost as if she never really existed, and so much has happened in the world. Maybe that's the human anture- to forget tragic events in life- the Death of Process Diana, September 11, 2001, the death of JFK JR., all becoming dim memories as we scuttle on with our lives. --Steven Casey, Hometoen, IL (submitted on July 18, 2007)

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