Yesterday the world said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II of England. Her 70 years in power have in various ways touched the hearts of many citizens of Great Britain, but also beyond. In many ways, this strong, worldly woman coped with the challenges she faced in her country, in the Commonwealth countries she preceded, but also in her family. Her children gave her some difficult times that most mothers would struggle with, and even one of her grandchildren did not make her last years any easier. However, she always remained true to herself and often with a smile on her face. It was that smile that many Britons pointed out as something with which she especially touched them and as something for which they will remember her.
Twelve days of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II brought some new moments in the lives of many people. Her coffin was displayed for 5 days in Westminster Hall in the heart of London and there the citizens could pay their last respects to their queen. However, there were many who wished to do so, and queues formed very quickly in which people waited for up to 24 hours, just to pass by the queen's coffin for a few minutes. At the very beginning, I thought that a person must be British, because they are known for their devotion to waiting in lines. One famous person, football player David Beckham, found himself waiting in line for about 12 hours. We heard that David was offered to skip the line, but he refused it on the grounds that his late grandfather, a great supporter of the monarchy, would resent it. With that act, David grew in my eyes, and after all those years of his fame, which left me indifferent, I became his supporter. Apart from David, there were people who went through the entire procedure twice, waiting for many hours during cold nights, only in different company, for example, the first time with their parents, and then again with their husband.
But I was surprised that there were also people of other nationalities in the queues, not only the British. Two wonderful Ukrainian children of 10 and 11 years old, who cleverly and eloquently explained to the BBC reporter why and with what motives they were there, were especially etched in my memory. They said they wanted to be part of a historic moment and pay tribute to the late queen.
It is speculated that the phenomenon of the formation of such lines was contributed by the fact that not so long ago the world emerged from an ugly, devastating pandemic in which people experienced isolation and loneliness like never before. And something noble was needed to unite people who had the need to stand in lines and be with each other, family members and friends, but also strangers.
Unfortunately, I missed that experience. At first, I tried to persuade my Sara to do so, but she flatly rejected me with the words "Mom, I'm not traveling anywhere, I travelled this summer more than enough." However, once I found out how long you had to wait, I knew I wouldn’t have been able to queue for more then 2 hours.
Still, Sara and I followed everything via television, and even though we were not physically in London, we spent a lot of time in our hearts following the people in the queues, giving them recognition and admiration.
Love,
Kristina
Tuesday, September 20th, 2022
Photographer: Danny Lawson/PA Wire/Fotograf: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Redovi za Elizabetu II
Jučer se svijet oprostio od engleske kraljice Elizabete II. Njezinih 70 godina na vlasti na razne su načine dotakli srca brojnih građana Velike Britanije, ali i mnogo šire. Ta po mnogo čemu snažna, svjetska žena nosila se sa izazovima koje je nailazila u svojoj zemlji, u zemljama Commonwealtha kojima je predsjedavala, ali i u svojoj obitelji. Djeca su joj priredila neke mučne trenutke sa kojima bi se svaka majka teško nosila, a i jedan od unuka joj nije olakšao posljednje godine života. Ipak, ostala je uvijek dosljedna sebi i često sa osmjehom na usnama. Baš su taj osmjeh mnogi Britanci isticali kao nešto čime ih je posebno dotakla i kao nešto po čemu će ju pamtiti.
Dvanaest dana žalovanja za kraljicom Elizateom II donijelo je neke nove momente u životima mnogih ljudi. Njezin je lijes bio izložen 5 dana u Westmister Hallu u srcu Londona i tamo su građani mogli odati posljednu počast svojoj kraljici. No, bilo je mnogo onih koji su to željeli i vrlo su se brzo stvorili redovi u kojima se čekalo i po 24 sata, samo da bi se proslo na par minuta pored kraljičinog lijesa. Ja sam na samom početku mislila da čovjek mora biti Britanac, jer poznati su po svojoj odanosti čekanju u redovima. Jedna slavna osoba, nogometaš David Beckham našao se tako u redu od 12tak sati čekanja. Saznali smo da je Davidu bilo ponuđeno da preskoči red, ali on je to odbio uz obrazloženje da bi mu to zamjerio njegov pokojni djed, veliki pobornik monarhije. Tim je činom David porastao u mojim očima i nakon svih tih godina njegove slave koja me ostavila ravnodušnom, postala sam njegov simpatizer. Osim Davida bilo je ljudi koji su čitavu proceduru prošli dva puta, čekajuci po 12 sati tokom hladnih noći, samo u različitom društvu na primjer prvi puta sa roditeljima, a onda sa suprugom.
No iznenadilo me da su se u redovima našli i ljudi drugih nacionalnosti, ne samo Britanci. Posebno su mi se usjekli u sjećanje dvoje predivne ukrajinske djece od 10 i 11 godina koji su pametno i elokventno objašnjavali reporteru BBCa zašto su se i sa kojim motivima tamo našli. Rekli su da žele biti dio povjesnog trenutka i odati priznanje pokojnoj kraljici.
Nagađa se da je fenomenu formiranja takovih redova doprinijela činjenica da je svijet ne tako davno izašao iz jedne ružne, razarajuće pandemije u kojoj su ljudi doživjeli izaliranost i samoću kao nikada do sada. I trebalo je nešto plamenito da ujedini ljude koji su imali potrebu da stoje u redovima i da budu jedni uz druge, članovi obitelji i prijatelji jedni za druge, ali i stranci jedni prema drugima.
Nažalost ja sam to iskustvo propustila. Pokušala sam nagovoriti svoju Saru na to ali ona me glatko odbila sa riječima “Mama ja ne putujem nikamo, ja sam se ovo ljeto naputovala.” Nakon daljeg promišljanja ideja da bi čekala u redu duže od dva sata učinila mi se neizvediva.
No, Sara i ja smo sve pratili putem televizije i iako fizicki nismo bile u Londonu u srcu smo provele mnogo vremena prateći ljude u redovima odajući im priznanje i divljenje.
S ljubavlju,
Kristina
Utorak, 20. rujna 2022.
Comments