Grace and Diana

As I age I seem to feel a deeper and deeper empathy towards the children I work with in my chosen profession of teaching. A poignant documentary I watched last week on ABC's Primetime Live showed the horrors of poverty in the American city of Camden, New Jersey. Although I've never actually been in Camden, I was very close as it lies just on the other side of the Delaware River from Philadelphia. While doing my research on Princess Grace, I saw its outskirts from the riverbank.

The picture Diane Sawyer portrayed so vividly of the suffering and squalor the innocent children live in is heartbreaking, as well it should be. It clearly shows the short comings of American society and where its priorities lie.

The one thing I will always stress in my love of , The Two Princesses, was their dedication to service. Yes their beauty, charm, fashion and all the other attributes that made the world love them so much is important; for that gave them their power to do what was most important, service to mankind. And for each of them, the innocence and vulnerabilities of children was paramount.

Each and every time Diana went out in public and a child approached her, she not only beamed with delight, but exhibited a genuine sincerity I have never seen duplicated. Alec Baldwin's sister Beth once told me that when she met Princess Diana, and children gathered around her, any schedule or protocol stopped until she had finished with each child. And as we all know this went well beyond when the cameras were not clicking.

This was true with Grace too. When she became Princess of Monaco, she immediately became a surrogate parent to all of Monaco's orphans. The Catholic nuns who cared for them knew Grace would visit them often and see to their well being with anything they needed.

I don't know if the dire problems of poverty throughout the world will ever be solved or even brought under control. But I do know each of us can do our part to reach out our hands to the children that cross our paths. And follow the examples of  not only two mentors, but also, Two Princesses.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this