It was the question that defined a generation: Where where you when JFK was shot?
Not my generation though – I wasn’t born until after the fact.
Yet I often heard people talking about what they were doing when they heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated. It was a rare moment in time, that everybody could pinpoint exactly.
I didn’t really comprehend what that was like, until the years following the death of Princess Diana.
The Royals Were Our Extended Family
When I was growing up, it was almost like the royals were part of our extended family. No doubt this was partly because my maternal grandmother was born in England.
Plus, there is a weird family resemblance. When we were kids my little sister thought those portraits of the Queen, found in most government institutions, were actually pictures of our mum!
Both Grandma and my mum were devoted to the trashy mags, so we were always up on the latest gossip; and they both collected royal memorabilia.
I could hardly believe my eyes as I watched the young and beautiful Diana – only a few years’ older than my 14 year old self – marry Prince Charles. He seemed so old!
Sadly their fairytale fell apart, but by then Diana was a dazzling star in her own right.
Then came the day when the news broke – she’d been in a car crash in Paris.
How I Heard that Diana had Died
If memory serves me correctly, 31 August 1997 was a Sunday.
The hubster was the sound technician at our church, and so had left for the music rehearsal and the evening service.
Meanwhile, I was at home looking after our two children – our three year old son, and nine month old daughter. I was sitting on the couch giving the baby a bottle, when the news of the car crash flashed up on the TV.
It was a shock but I wasn’t too worried. This was Princess Diana after all! She would have the best in medical care and would no doubt recover.
Except she didn’t.
The next news bulletin revealed the awful truth: Diana was dead.
It just didn’t seem possible!
Twenty Years Later
Twenty years later, it still doesn’t seem real, let alone that the Princess has been gone for so long.
Prince William is now the same age his mother was when she died.
My own tiny tots are all grown up.
But it’s amazing how clearly I remember what I was doing when Diana died.
What were you doing when Diana died?!