A QUIET MEMORIAL DAY

I apologize, Gentle Readers, because so many of my posts of late have been about movies I've watched. It's because I have so little free time because of the censeless that when I have an opportunity to relax, it's usually just long enough to watch a movie.

The latest is The Young Victoria, which I thought was quite lovely. The costumes are gorgeous, Emily Blunt as Victoria is superb, you have intrigue, you have romance - who could ask for anything more?

And talk about a woman who overcame obstacles. I don't want to give away too much of what Victoria had to deal with as a princess and a young queen because it might spoil the movie for you, but she had to fight for her right to paaaarty? Oh no, that was someone else. Victoria had to fight to maintain her right to the throne.

Based on all accounts I have seen and read, Victoria and Prince Albert (yes, the famous one of prank phone calls who comes in a can so you'd better let him out) felt great love and devotion for one another. Albert died from typhoid at age 41 or 42, I don't remember which, and Victoria had his clothes laid out every morning until she died at age 81. She also had his night shirt laid out every night. They had nine children and she remains the longest reigning monarch of England to date. I'm not sure how many years Elizabeth II has to go until she beats Victoria. Elizabeth appears to be going strong at age 84, so if she hasn't yet outreigned Victoria, she has outlived her.

A very good movie about Victoria in her later years is Mrs. Brown, starring Dame Judi Dench. The film explores Victoria's relationship with a servant who helped her through her many, many years of mourning.

One of the these days, I'll have to read a good biography of Queen Victoria, most definitely a woman who belongs on the pages of WOMEN: WE SHALL OVERCOME. Perhaps I'll start with Queen Victoria: A Personal History. Amazon has a number of interesting books about this most interesting of queens.

Victoria spent so many years living in the past. I had a nice long conversation with BFF Kate last night and she was telling me about a woman she knows who has been divorced for quite some time who cannot let go of the sins her ex-husband committed against her.

I find that the longer I'm away from my husband, the better off I am. When I saw him every day, his wrongs were fresh and present. Now they have faded into the past, where I am glad to let them remain.

Let's learn from the past but live for the present and the future. We have so much to look forward to.

By the way, today is the first full day off I've had since I trained my enumerators. And it's raining. If it continues, they won't want to work tomorrow and I'll have another relatively easy day. It's pretty hard to juggle papers in the rain, and of course, they don't go inside people's houses or even porches. Safety first, dear enumerators.

Love,

Lola