It was the Queen's Jubilee five years ago, and the village organised a carnival .
The committee, of which I was not a part of, wanted a carnival queen crowned for the day and wisely plumped for a queen of advanced years rather than your typical fresh faced little ingenue.
Auntie Glad was their first choice, but typically her modesty would not allow her to be the centre of all the attention,so the net was cast in the search of a stand in.
Beryl was a stalwart of the village. Cultured, with a noticeable delusion of grandeur, she was a church
going, community council attending volunteer Diva who had no small talent of rubbing certain people up the wrong way with her "grand ways" . Indeed one village bigwig wryly referred to her as " The Queen of Sheba" but she was a proud woman who worked hard for her community and her friends.
Now, Beryl was then starting with the early signs of dementia. She was also somewhat lonely having two sons who led busy lives down south and whom never really visited but she certainly enjoyed being the centre of attention, when attention reared it's head so she was tickled pink when the committee asked her to be the carnival queen.
Out of the blue...I found myself remembering her today with some affection, sitting on top of a pony pulled buggy with her crown and best coat on. The buggy trotted through Trelawnyd on a sunny Sunday afternoon and the whole village came out to wave and cheer at her and she lapped up every minute of it like the Queen she was!
It was like something out of a movie
Your village is amazing. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI loved this story!
ReplyDeleteHow nice that a lonely woman got some time in the sun - and that she enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThat was the moral of the story, and as Beryl no longer lives in Wales i thought i could tell it
DeleteI echo Elephant's Child. I'm glad that her "grand ways" that might rub some the wrong way were overlooked and she was given a role that made her happy. Lovely story.
DeleteIsn't that just wonderful? Your village...
ReplyDeleteIt so often sounds like a magical place.
Same as most places my friend x
DeleteNot really John. You bring a compassion and humanity to these experiences that is totally lacking in most of our lives. It's the gift you share with us.
DeleteLovely that the village gave her some kindness and attention as her son's clearly couldn't be bothered.
ReplyDeleteThey once left her on her own at christmas hoping someone from the village would look after her...luckily they did
DeleteYou've got to love a person with "noticeable delusions of grandeur"! I am still wrecking my brain about the novelty veggie entry, and I am wondering where the kiwi turtles went.
ReplyDeleteI had an altercation over them with a fellow blogger who was upset that i used a stock photo to ask for more entries ( pretending it was a real entry!) ..i have only had two entries iris so need more......i shall post a begging request for more
Deleteentries tomorrow......strangely it has been rather slow with photos..last year i had a load!
Ooooops!! I will try to get something together this year, but I think that we are all a little bit intimidated by previous entries.
DeleteWait, what? Is it time to enter? I have been planning something involving narwhals for a month now.
Deleteis beryl still alive, or is she lost in the desert of dementia? all of you did something nice for a lonely person.
ReplyDeleteShe was moved nto a nursing home in Yorkshire, 140 miles away. She thought she was going to live with her son !
DeleteAll of Beryl made my day.
ReplyDeleteYou deserve it
DeleteBeryl the Peril - now safe in Yorkshire's bosom.
ReplyDeleteIn harrogate no less x
DeleteOooooh Betty's!
DeleteHow lovely that she got some attention....probably set her up for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice memory John. We helped someone remember something today....To make a long story short.. we have been helping our neighbors alot for the last six months or so building their new house, downsizing and moving.. And they had some furniture they just had to part with.. One was a very old 1930ish old chair... not sure if it was real leather or not but it had stitching on the backrest... cowboy theme.. it was a rocker.. The 'leather' was cracked and taped up... really very worst for wear .. so bad that we could not even donate it to the charity shops.. they wouldn't take it.. So we had it in the back of the trailer still when we pulled up to a hardware store to load up our purchases and a man i'd say in his 50's did a double take when he was walking past with his wife to go into the store... He walked over for a better look, even reached out to touch it... And said he hadn't seen one of those since he was a little boy and it belonged to his grandmother.We told him it was looking for a home but he didn't reply.. just stood there staring at it with a little smile on his face.. lost in memory.. He said he could remember running his little fingers all over the stitching of the sadle that was embroidered on there.. Finally with his wife's toe taping... she looked much younger than he.. they went about their business...i could just imagine the wife saying theres no way thats coming home with us....lol Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteI love those little pony pull her carriage.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
Do I spy a seat belt? Never had those in my day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story.
ReplyDeleteMy Granddad used to call me the Queen of Sheba whenever I dressed up in their net curtains, so when I got married the Queen of Sheba was the only thing I could walk up the aisle to.
This is really sweet. As was the case with My Mother The Dowager Duchess, it´s usually easier to just give them what they want.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story. Beryl was a lucky woman.
ReplyDeleteAnd I wish I was clever enough to enter the veggie competition but alas, I am not. I do enjoy seeing everyone else's entries, though.
John I can't imagine a village event the committee of which you are not a member!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous fun! I must say if i ever go back to horsesm a pair of shetlands or minis to drive in a little cart would be high on my list!
ReplyDelete