My main reason for writing is to express my condolences on the loss of your Queen. I thought Mannkal’s statement on her passing was perfect – concise, yet moving.
Her death moved me more deeply than I expected – I spent the 8th and the 9th following the news on YouTube, often in tears (very unlike me). Though I’m an American, my paternal grandmother was a Scotwoman who emigrated to the U.S., and her love for the U.K. never flagged. Throughout her life, Nana (b. 1882) had a picture of the Queen and above her bed – Queen Victoria, that is! I was brought up with a love for British history and pageantry. My Aunt Lydia in Dundee sent me Scots candy and my favorite children’s books, which I still have – Bunty, Oor Wullie, the Broons – as well as (for my Mom) copies of The People’s Friend annuals and The Friendship Book of Francis Gay. Into the 1970s, she sent us newspapers with the most interesting news about the Royal Family.
And so I grew up paying more attention than the average American to the life of the late Queen. Only as an adult did I fully grasp how remarkable she was – uncomplainingly doing a job she never anticipated having, did not want, and could not quit, a job for which she felt ill suited by temperament and training. And she did all this with great humility: for her, Christianity was her guidestar, no mere PR tool. And her ability to play the Long Game dealing with the impossible family challenges of recent years – to be a tenth the woman she turned out to be would be a great achievement, indeed.
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My main reason for writing is to express my condolences on the loss of your Queen. I thought Mannkal’s statement on her passing was perfect – concise, yet moving.
Her death moved me more deeply than I expected – I spent the 8th and the 9th following the news on YouTube, often in tears (very unlike me). Though I’m an American, my paternal grandmother was a Scotwoman who emigrated to the U.S., and her love for the U.K. never flagged. Throughout her life, Nana (b. 1882) had a picture of the Queen and above her bed – Queen Victoria, that is! I was brought up with a love for British history and pageantry. My Aunt Lydia in Dundee sent me Scots candy and my favorite children’s books, which I still have – Bunty, Oor Wullie, the Broons – as well as (for my Mom) copies of The People’s Friend annuals and The Friendship Book of Francis Gay. Into the 1970s, she sent us newspapers with the most interesting news about the Royal Family.
And so I grew up paying more attention than the average American to the life of the late Queen. Only as an adult did I fully grasp how remarkable she was – uncomplainingly doing a job she never anticipated having, did not want, and could not quit, a job for which she felt ill suited by temperament and training. And she did all this with great humility: for her, Christianity was her guidestar, no mere PR tool. And her ability to play the Long Game dealing with the impossible family challenges of recent years – to be a tenth the woman she turned out to be would be a great achievement, indeed.
Laurie P. Morrow, Ph.D., CAP®, Vermont USA