Death is the great equalizer

Grief Is the Price We Pay for Love, Says Queen Elizabeth II After 911

Let that be said to those who mourn her loss

It has only been days since the Queen died. Even if she was 96, and it was inevitable that death would soon visit the beloved queen, it still came as a surprise, and shock to many but most especially to the family she left behind.

President Biden referenced the Queen in his speech as America honors those who died in the 911 attack in 2001. When days after the tragedy of 911, the Queen sent this letter to the American people.

You come together today in St Thomas church in New York united in sorrow by the terrible events of last week. Each and every one of us has been shocked and numbed by what we have witnessed in these recent days.

But none of us should doubt the resilience and determination of this great and much loved city and its people. Men and women from many nations, from many faiths and from many backgrounds were working together in New York City when this unimaginable outrage overtook them all.

At your service today, we think especially of the British victims. For some of them, New York was simply a stopover on some busy travel schedule. For others it was a workplace of excitement and of opportunity. For many it was a familiar second home.

These are dark and harrowing times for families and friends of those who are missing or who suffered in the attack — many of you here today. My thoughts and my prayers are with you all now and in the difficult days ahead.

But nothing that can be said can begin to take away the anguish and the pain of these moments. Grief is the price we pay for love.

Sixty-seven British nationals died that fateful day.

Grief is the price we pay for love

Death is the great equalizer. And many of us lost a loved one during the pandemic. It is a shared experience by us who survived the last two years. An experience I share with the queen when she lost her husband Prince Philip, I lost my mother on February 2, 2021.

The queen’s words in 2001 were in a way the inspiration of a line spoken in an episode of WandaVision.

Why that one line has become a defining moment of the series and helped me cope with the unthinkable loss of my mother’s death.

Wanda: It’s just like this wave washing over me again and again. It knocks me down, and when I try to stand up, it just comes for me again. And I can’t… It’s gonna drown me.

Vision: No. No, Wanda.

Wanda: How do you know?

Vision: Because it can’t be all sorrow, can it? I’ve always been alone, so I don’t feel the lack. It’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve never experienced loss because I’ve never had a loved one to lose. What is grief, if not love persevering?

The Queen is dead, long live The King!

As the heir to the throne becomes King Charles III, the grief-stricken King had to address his people, and one can see the profound sorrow on his face.

We view the royal family as a family we know but not of our own.

Like many, we feel the grief that the royal family members feel as they try to cope with the loss of their mother, their grandmother, and their great-grandmother.

To the British people and people from the Commonwealth countries, they lost their queen, their head of state, and to some the mother of their nation.

Today, I asked a psychologist friend this question,

Why are we sad about the Queen’s passing?

And his reply was,

The symbols and achievements they carry tie up with the hope and dreams of the common people. Many grieve because they lost a tinge of their hope and dreams.

I think about death a lot since my Mom died. I am even surprised that I am still alive at 53. Recently I got myself dogs, Phi Phi and Crocker and when the Queen died, I asked myself —‘ What will happen to her dogs?’

And when I wrote it nobody had an answer, but now it has been reported that Prince Andrew is the designated caretaker of the Queen’s dogs. He will get help from his ex-wife Fergie.

Final words

As I get older, I’m more emotional when I hear news of celebrity deaths, like that of Olivia Newton-John, and I know the reason why.

It brings back memories or personal experiences that are tied up to the time these celebrities were at their peak — when they were young, many moons ago, as I was the same, young as they were many moons ago.

The same goes when I heard of Queen Elizabeth II's death.

Now that I am in my fifties, I honor family and tradition. She’s the only Queen I had known since I was a young kid. In school, Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II are the people that for many years remain constant in my young mind.

Let me leave you with my words from my story — When a Celebrity Dies, We Think of Our Death and the Afterlife

Death

I often think of death, as not a day passes by that I don’t think of my mom.

Now that we are moving away from the pandemic, I think of the many people I know who passed away and the celebrities I only know by name who are no longer here.

Yes, death will come to all of us, but a song by Phil Collins tells me that, like love,‘ You can’t hurry death, you just have to wait.’

And then, at last, we shall rest.

So will be for us, for those who did good, and for those who did wrong. The poorer and the richer, the unknown and the celebrity. — Excerpt, When a Celebrity Dies, We Think of Our Death and the Afterlife

Rest in Love, Queen Elizabeth II

We can only embrace your words after 911,

Grief is the price we pay for love.

Thank you for reading.

Here are some of my stories, all complimentary.

✨The Only Time Queen Elizabeth Bowed Her Head— Free Reading.

✨What Happens to Your Dog When You Die Will Break Your Heart — Free Reading.

✨What They Left in Princess Diana’s Hand Will Make You Stand By Your Catholic Faith — Free Reading.

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