Even though I am not a British citizen, the passing of Queen Elizabeth yesterday feels like an era is ending. She has been around forever; it felt like she would go on living ’til the end of time.

I really don’t follow the British royalty, but her passing did affect me a little. She appeared to be a steady influence as evidenced by her demeanor during the COVID pandemic. I hope her son, now King Charles III, will fill the same mold of steadiness. I do remember his tense marriage with Princess Diana before her untimely death.

My saddest memory (well, my only memory) of Queen Elizabeth is her sitting alone in the church after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, during the pandemic era. That was really heartbreaking. I did wonder how long she would last.

It seems to me she held out for about a year.

So, the world is rapidly changing: the impact of the coronavirus, the new world of remote work (hopefully), the changing tenor in politics, the Ukraine invasion by Russia, climate change. And now the death of the longest reigning queen. Everything right now is just tense.

ADDENDUM

And so it is done.

I can’t believe how much her passing and the solemn cortege has affected me. I think it was because I felt this was history in the making: one of the longest living monarchs passing away. The 10 days of mourning was worldwide with a lot of pomp and circumstance. The marching of the coffin from one historic building to another in London and Scotland was something to behold.

The cadence of the march was kind of riveting to me.

Watching the family march along behind the coffin was…I don’t know, I don’t know what words describe what I was seeing/feeling. The grieving was so public and they had to do it stoically with that marching cadence. That family did not have privacy.

For me, the final tearjerker was the bag pipes as her coffin was lowered into the vault.

Bagpipes are the perfect instrument for dirges at funerals with their dolorous sounds. I am a bit confused though. I have read that the song during the lowering of the coffin was “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep” but there are other references to “A Salute to the Royal Fendersmith”. Titlewise, I prefer the first one, so I will always think of this as “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep”.