Princess Di's Last Gift
By Joanie Overbeck - TLC Group
Much has been written and said concerning the grief expressed over the death of Princess Diana. Why so much grief for someone most of us did not know except through the nightly news and the tabloids?
Perhaps, because we knew more about her than most of our family and our friends. Her intimate life and pain was made public over and over again. Few details left out. We all felt like we knew her and we all knew some of her pain from the adversities we had in common with her. And, we liked her.
Also, she was a role model for many women and probably some men. She seemed to overcome incredible adversity and public humiliation to go on to help ease the suffering of others. She didn't hide. She put others' suffering before her own personal discomfort.
For all these reasons and more, her last gift to humanity may have been the most helpful for mankind. Her passing was a catalyst for a mass public display of grief. There was, for the first time since John Kennedy's death, a public acceptance of grief. We could grieve for Diana and anything or anyone else we needed to grieve for. It was okay to grieve publicly. We not only didn't have to hide our sadness, but we saw that our sadness was normal. What a great gift for so many.
Diana's gifts helped heal many in life, but her last gift may have been the most healing of all.