August 28 is a very memorable day for me. In addition to MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, it was also the day a young boy named Emmett Til was beaten to death in 1955. His mother had an open-casket funeral. He's buried down the street from me. I wasn't around when it happened, but it was still a big deal around here. It caused a lot of anger.

August 28, 1990 - From an 18th floor window, I watched a huge tornado destroy a lot of land in Plainfield.

August 28, 1991 - After a five-year battle, my father died from cancer.

August 28, 1998 - I stood at my kitchen window that afternoon admiring a butterfly I had never seen before. It was perched on a brick outside and stayed there for the longest time. It looked like a Monarch, but the distribution of color was different.

That evening, news broke that Princess Diana had been killed in an auto accident. The next day, I went up to the library to find out the name of the butterfly I saw the day before. It was a "Diana." May she rest in peace.

I think this year on August 28th I'll stay in my room and not watch any TV.