A strange day and a different blog

‘Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly on wisdom’ – Queen Elizabeth II

I’m writing this the day after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died after an amazing 70 years on the throne and a lifetime of loyal and dedicated service to her people. Our Queen was 96 and clearly becoming much frailer over the last few months but she continued with her royal duties right up until the end. She died at home at Balmoral in Scotland where she had been all summer as was her usual custom. Our Queen took part in her Jubilee Celebrations and few can fail to be moved by her appearance on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch the flypast with her Great Grandchildren – George, Charlotte and Louis. Little George who, at 9 years old and with the passing of his Great Grandmother, has become second in line to the throne after his father William.

So now we have a King. Most of us cannot remember a time where our Queen wasn’t on the throne and it’s going to take some getting used to I think. It will be many years before the image of King Charles III is on every coin, bank note, stamp and passport and how long before we get used to singing God Save the King? It’s a new era. He has a lot to take on, even though he has been preparing for this moment for most of his life. Not only did he immediately become King with all that it involves but he also lost his Mother.

At 96 years old, the death of our Queen shouldn’t really be a surprise and I guess in many ways it wasn’t, and yet, I don’t think many of us really expected it to happen quite so quickly. She wasn’t taken to hospital and she died with at least some of her family around her. For that, we can only be grateful.

So this week, let us remember that life is finite. However old we are right now, we cannot know how long we have left on this earth. We cannot assume we will all live until the grand old age of 96. We must treasure every moment, take every opportunity to be with the ones we love, the people we care about. We must tell people we love them, that we appreciate them and that we are there for them.

We should also remember that our beloved Queen told us herself that we shouldn’t take life too seriously. She always had a ready smile, in fact it’s unusual to see a photo of her when she wasn’t smiling. In one of those ‘meant to be’ moments, I went to the local High Street this morning with my lovely Mum (who I definitely don’t tell often enough how much she means to me). A shop we occasionally visit was having a closing down sale and we spotted a wall hanging with the words ‘Life is better when you’re smiling’. Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while you will know how much I love a good quote! I truly believe that life is better when you smile even if it is sometimes hard to do. Mum bought it for me and it didn’t even cross my mind that a couple of hours later I would be using it in a blog and yet, it feels right.

Until next time xx