Sister Talk
Keeping the secret about the supper for Miss Dez and Matt had really been Martha’s business. Cook’s mind had been elsewhere. Their conversations were often very one-sided, Cook fingering Lily’s last letter in her apron pocket. She agreed with everything, just keeping her teacup filled. After the third ‘mmmm’ the fourth ‘of course’, and the interminable cups of tea, Martha noticed her friend’s distraction. “Elizabeth, dear, are you all right?” The teapot in mid air, “Of course, Martha. Her Majesty’s passing has me all mixed up. Oh, your cup is still full.” Putting the pot on the table, she sat down across from Martha. Taking Lily’s letter from her pocket, she smoothed it out on the table. “My goodness, I didn’t know you were so attached to the royalty, dear.”
Elizabeth had put aside any ideas of travel to England because of the health risks. Yes, many said the pandemic seemed to be over, but she didn’t wish to take any chances. In the last week she had been missing her sister, Lily ~ not just the letters but missing the children that they once were. The little sheep farm they had been raised on not far from London and even farther from where she had landed in Canada. All of those memories had come flooding back at the passing of the queen. Elizabeth had never given much thought to the Monarchy. It was just a part of their lives. “It’s not so much the Royalty, Martha. Lily and I were children when Queen Elizabeth was still a young Queen.” She smiled. “The china teacups Mother cherished. The little rack of silver spoons for each Royal event.” Looking at her friend over her cup “Do you have any idea how much Lily and I hated those spoons. It seemed like every Saturday we had to take them down, wash them, polish them to little mirrors, put them all back in the right order before we could go out to play.” She chuckled at the memory. “I suppose that’s why I want the kitchen kept in such a right order. Pots all shining.” Martha was intrigued by these revelations. She thought she knew her friend, who was seldom talkative. Today she seemed to need an ear. Martha was more than glad to listen. She certainly had listened to her babble on all the time. “Sundays. That was the day. In summer, when mom and dad would come home from church; dad went out to check on the sheep and mom got out her china cup, the placemat with the Queen and Prince Phillip on it, made a good strong pot of Earl Grey tea. All on a tray, also with pictures of the Royals, she went to the front porch. There she’d sit. For exactly 30 minutes. When she came in she washed it all up, even the tray and put it all back in the top cupboard. Oh, my, Lily and I would giggle.” Martha enjoyed hearing this part of her friends life. “What did she do in the winter? It must have been too cold to take tea outside? Cook continued with her story. “In winter, when those skies were iron grey and the rain was colder, she got out everything as usual but sat at the kitchen table.” She paused “Here I am going on and on. I’ve said enough. Dinner to cook.” Her stories stopped as quickly as they started.
While getting the roast ready for the oven, peeling potatoes, making the salad Cook just kept remembering. Remembering the young and beautiful Queen. She and Lily wanted to be just like the Queen and her sister, Princess Margaret. They practiced their waves and how they walked, believing they really could do them perfectly. Made little speeches on their porch. As they grew, their mother let them have tea in the gold rimmed china cups ~ lots of milk and sugar with a little bit of tea. Cook smiled as she put the potatoes on to cook. She reached up to her special top cupboard. Smiling Queen Elizabeth II on a glinting gold rimmed china cup sat beside a little box of Earl Grey tea.
“We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection.
With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock.”
~ Queen Elizabeth II,
On the importance of reflection
townandcountrymag.com
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