A New Fact Of Life

September 11, 2022 By Andrea Downey-Lauenburg

We stopped in our tracks. At least I did, and with me the boat.

Planned was only a short one day stay, but now it’s a bit more difficult to move on, spurred by the death of one person on the other side of the globe.

I’m not a royalist, needless to say. I’m even considering to give up my British citizenship, and yet – the passing of the Queen somehow slows down my life. This one single person was one of the rocks modern Britain was build. One may say she even was the major stone that held together this nation that was ripped apart by Brexit and the other catastrophes that followed (like Boris Johnson, the pandemic, and the cost of living crises).

Yes, I still feel British in a way, although as a convinced European I have made my choice after Brexit, and it wasn’t the island that has won my personal struggle. However, the Queen always was the one person who made me feel as if I still belonged to this sunken empire.

Now she’s gone and left a son on the throne who rather belongs in a cartoon.

The earth still moves, mankind still exists, life goes on (despite of Truss and Putin). It’s just that I needed a break to breathe in a new fact of life.

Our Queen is dead.