Marking a moment in history...

Rest in Peace thou good and faithful servant, Queen Elizabeth.

I'm sure we will all remember where we were, who we were with if not alone, and how we learnt our dear Queen had died. I was at a wedding, which held its own sadness, and during the speeches my phone pinged - a short message from a friend telling me the news. It was hard then to concentrate on the occasion I was attending. A double dose of emotion had to be held in. 

The following day I went wild swimming, previously booked. It was the first time I visited the quarry for a solo swim as my family swimmers were not available. The sun was shining and the place looked beautiful. There was just one other lady swimming so we had the great outdoors to ourselves. We exchanged a few words but recognised we wanted to be alone and she left the water as I completed my second circuit. 

Also for the first time, I attempted a third lap. This lap was for the Queen; for my thoughts and sadness; for her determination to complete her role and duty; for her finishing well. I swam and cried adding my tears to the mineral water that was so peaceful, so fresh and beautiful as QE always was. A few leaves floated on the surface heralding a change of season, a change of monarch and so much more. Birds called, a magpie and pigeon watched me gliding by. 

On Sunday, I lit a candle and wrote in a book of condolence at my local church. The loss to so many of the only Monarch we have ever known has been much talked about in interviews on television. Pictures of the Queen's life, her achievements, her love of Scotland, horses, dogs, family times and visits to many countries have been well documented. Things we have never known, seen or heard about before have been broadcast and has deepened our awareness of history and British traditions. 

We certainly know how to make a 'show' out of the saddest or even the dullest of royal duties - soldiers in red coats, shiny shoes and bearskin hats; trumpeters; funeral cars; lying in state in Cathedral and Abbey - the general public showing their affection with silent tributes, flowers and gifts. 

What I found hard to comprehend, as a retired counsellor, was the immediacy of transition from Queen to King. No time for the Royals to grieve, to take in the loss of their mother, grandmother etc. And it was all so very public, absolute no privacy. Keeping a 'stiff upper lip' as so often the British do, but at what cost to their mental wellbeing. How much more 'normal' it would have been to see a tear rolling down a cheek. They were certainly rolling down mine and I'd never even met her! 

As the days roll on with television coverage of every movement of both the coffin and the royals being here, there and everywhere, my heart goes out to them all. Surely the time between the death of the Queen and her funeral could have been a time for LESS up-close and personal tv coverage, even though history is being made by the fact of her death after such a fantastic life, everyone, new King and his siblings and family especially, need to take stock mentally of the humongous change that our country is undergoing right now. God Bless them all.