A Queen In Her Own Right

 

 

This is Edna.  Edna was born in Wales and emigrated to the U.S.  She loved it here, but her heart held a special fondness for the place of her birth.  She was a quintessential 'Brit'.  She was my friend.

She was fiercely conservative to my moderately liberal. Yet we always managed to discuss things and found common ground on quite a few fronts.  We always said we could solve the problems of the world if only anyone would listen.

We met about 9 years ago while we were both volunteering. She held a morning shift on two separate days and we would meet at the proverbial 'Changing of the Guard'.  Eventually we became such fast friends that she would just stay over and talk to me.  As time progressed, it became more like Edna holding court surrounded by her loyal subjects. Edna had so many friends in the community, and everyone working in the establishment where we volunteered loved her too.  She was just that kind of person.  Always laughing.  Always joking.  Because, as she said, if you can't have fun, why do it?

 

 As I said, Edna was the quintessential 'Brit'.  Always proper and always with an opinion on the 'right' way.  Witness the look on her face when, having ordered Fish and Chips, the waitress brought out malt vinegar and, heaven forbid!, Catsup.  It is simply NOT done!  She loved all things tea and many's the discussion we had over the merits of Yorkshire Gold (the Queen's favorite) and how you could actually get more than one good 'cuppa' out of just one tea bag.  We went to high tea together.  We ate lunch at her house.  "Do you want a bikkie?", she would ask.  "Proper orange marmalade simply MUST contain Seville oranges."  "People say I am opinionated ... and I am!" ... followed by an infectious laugh.

Edna was feisty, kind, and most always had something nice to say about everyone.  She treated people as she would like to be treated and expected the same in return.  And she thought Emmanuel Macron was about the cutest thing on two legs.  "I may be old, but I'm not dead", she would grin.

Last week Edna left us.  She was 89 years young, as they like to say.  In this case it was true.  She had a brighter mind and a more youthful outlook than a lot of 50 year olds I know.  She lived on simple means but she loved to enjoy the best she could...like French butter.  "It is just so much better", she would say, "and I'm worth it."  Followed by that infectious little giggle.  She was a baker supreme, making the most decadent Dundee fruit cake at Christmas, topped  with royal icing, and sporting not only a layer of apricot preserves, but a layer of almond paste.  It was no mean feat to make either, taking hours to put together and then having to sit for weeks to be just right.  And come Christmas you were lucky indeed if you happened to be one of the recipients.  Tarts ... lemon, mince (using specially made mince made and sent to her from California because it was just SO much better than anything you could buy in a grocery store...) and fresh fruit were often gifted to her friends. Generous to a fault and so appreciative of anything someone did for her.  That was Edna.

 

I will miss her terribly.  Who will I have now with whom to discuss the state of the Royals?  She wanted to outlive the Queen.  I guess it was not to be.  But Edna has the last laugh.  Betty White was quoted as saying: "My mother had a wonderful approach to death. She always thought of it as — she said, 'We know we have managed to find out almost anything that exists, but nobody knows ... what happens at that moment when it's over.'  And she said, 'It's the one secret that we don't know.' So whenever we would lose somebody very close and very dear, she would always say, 'Well, now he knows the secret.' And it took the curse off of it somehow."  Now, Edna, you know the secret.