2 minute read
Lady V’s Shoes
in Lady V’s Shoes
It took me longer than normal to come up with a topic for this editi on’s column. Usually I have some sort of plan, or larger focus brewing at the back of my mind that I want to put into acti on. And, generally speaking, I am more likely to put these ideas into acti on if I have some way to hold myself accountable.
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This is where you all come in, as you did with last season’s Fountain when I shared my plans to do the Illuminator. When it came to the actual night, I was sorely tempted to retreat upstairs to my warm (and dry) duvet cocoon, and no one would have been any the wiser. But I knew I had promised you all I was doing the Illuminator, so dammit I was going to do the Illuminator.
But, for once, I have no plans or grand schemes for the coming months. Rather, instead of thinking about what is next, recently I have been taking the ti me to look back and refl ect on a lot of things. This refl ecti ve period I am currently in began with Queen Elizabeth’s passing in September. While I had never personally met the queen, hearing the news of her death hit me harder than I realised it would.
While processing the news of her passing, I began looking back at various events during my life, and recalling her presence at many of them – be that her calling for Daniel Craig’s Bond, James Bond as part of the Olympics opening ceremony in 2012, or one of her many Christmas speeches I listened to with my parents. She was just always there, and I sti ll fi nd it strange when I remember she is gone.
I went down to Ballater Road with my family on the day the Queen’s body was moved from Balmoral, and I sti ll think about that moment oft en. What a testament to a life well spent to have so many people out to send her off on her fi nal journey through Aboyne.
I am not sure how best to close this column, as my ruminati ons evidently don’t have a clear conclusion. I do, however, hope that you are all well, and I wish you all the best for Christmas and 2023. Take care, V xx 25
