Natalie Wood, 31 Years Gone Today, But Not Forgotten

All Natalie Wood fans have their memories of when they discovered her and how they've never forgotten her. I have been one of them since I fell in awe of her when I was 10 years old. How ironic that many years later, I would become the person spending every spare moment for decades trying to give Natalie her rightful place in her own Hollywood history. Natalie Wood did not abuse her social evening 31 years ago and accidentally fall off a boat while attending to a dinghy late at night. For 31 years only one person in Natalie's family cared about learning the truth of how Natalie ended up floating in a cove on Sunday morning, Nov. 29, 1981, and that person is Natalie's sister, Lana. Natalie's other family members cling to 'accident' maybe because that's all they can handle emotionally. Finally, after 30 years, as the facts and truth are being investigated, I think of Natalie, as always. She is the person who was robbed of life.

She left behind a cherished family and lost being able to share in their lives. She left behind her good health, which her autopsy report indicated could have been a long, naturally healthy life. She left behind virtually all of her hard-earned, acquired belongings and wealth, bequeathed in a will to her husband who did nothing to help save her from drowning, and would begin dating another woman within weeks after Natalie's death. She left behind a career and millions of fans who had hoped to be entertained by Natalie for decades to come. She left behind a death case that was not investigated properly, and then became a subject matter almost a burden to keep hearing about. But people will keep hearing about it, I'm sure, for as long as a Natalie Wood fan remains, which will most likely be far, far into the future, for, most of all, Natalie left behind a name her fans will never let be forgotten. She was that special, that captivating, that legendary.