God Save the Queen

 I'm not a British subject, nor do I clearly understand the dynamics of British government.  (Need to do a deep dive into Google Land to determine when the UK went from absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy, with a royal family.)  Still, the long-reigning Queen of England, Elizabeth II, has died, and the rest of the world takes note and mourns with her faithful subjects.

Why?  Why should the rest of us care?   Queen Elizabeth represented an empire, of sorts.  She held a position of honor and grace.  She was the longest reigning monarch of Britain in all of history.  She deserved our respect in the same way that every good leader does.  

When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, other countries grieved with us.  The support was universal.  Heads of state from all over the world gathered in Washington, DC, to walk behind the caisson that carried his body from place to place.  There was no protocol.  No one walked first or last according to status.  No one cared, and it was beautiful...and sad.  Very sad.  The whole United States was shaken for months and months.

I am writing this on September 11, 2022.  On September 11, 2001, our country was attacked by Muslim radicals.  They hijacked airplanes and flew three of them into buildings, and one into the ground when the passengers got wind of what was going on and fought back.  The victims--almost 3,000 of them--were innocent sitting ducks in a drama that caught them unaware.  Our whole country fell into shock, disbelief, and fear.  And anger.  Through the days/weeks/months thereafter, there were expressions of solidarity and understanding from other countries.  And it helped me immensely to know that we were not alone.  

I specifically remember a band at the Queen's castle in London in a normal celebratory moment that was ordered to play another country's anthem for the first time in 600 years:  The Star Spangled Banner.  I cried, of course.  It meant so much to know that even the most noble in circumstance could care about the huge blow that America had endured.  And still endures.

Earth really is a small planet, as planets go, and we are simply fleeting guests on it.  I order to make our brief stays more livable, we need each other.  Where we live or how we look matters not.  How we feel and what we need does.  

The Queen's passing is history now, and we are all a part of it.  May God save Elizabeth II and give her soul rest.