Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

So, we interrupt your regularly scheduled posting with news that I am sure by this time you have already heard, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has died. We have been told that she has died peacefully, after a short illness at her beloved Scottish get-away home of Balmoral Castle.

The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and during her time on that throne, she witnessed an enormous change in society, the way we view one another, and the way we interact. She witnessed everything from the early post-war period, the widespread use of jet engines, and the creation of most of the antibiotics we know today, to the invention of the internet, the creation of social media and even the coming age of virtual realities. 

I find it is easy for many people in situations like this to forget that although she was a queen, a head of state, a figure known the world over. She was also a mother, a grandmother, a loving wife and most of all a resolute head of her household. It is easy for all of us to forget that she was not only the stern, strong, leader that she portrayed in public, but also a loving member of a large family who will surely miss her.

I do not pretend to be an expert on her majesty or the royal family as a whole, but I can say that I was alive when the end of an era happened. I can say that for my entire life to this point I had only known Queen Elizabeth II. And in many ways, I did not think of her passing. It was unthinkable that this person, who to me, was a permanent mainstay of British life and culture would someday pass. 

But, it was, as it is for all of us, an inevitable fate, and that one day we all, as she has, pass away. It really makes one think about how one would like to be remembered. One cannot stop but to take a moment to consider one's own actions. It is in times like this, when the passing of a legend occurs, that we as humans inevitably look not only backwards, but also forwards. To the future. 

So on the closing of this post, I must leave you with a question, how will you be remembered. Take a short time to consider yourself, your conduct, your actions and behaviour. Do they reflect the way in which you wish to be remember? If not, now is the time to change. Let's make it Her Majesty's final legacy, that we, collectively as a people, decide to do better, to act better, to be better. 

Thanks for reading, 

Spec.