On Being Half English

I think about my mother every day and I miss her more each day. She died in 2021 at 96. Today the King and Queen of England visited the White House and had a historic meeting. I don't know how much you paid attention or cared about this but it was very personal to me. You see, I grew up knowing about Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Prince Charles who is now King Charles III. My mother was from Southampton, England. My grandparents came over the year I was born. My mother and her parents had English accents and I was told I had one until I went to school. My Uncle John not so much, except for the way he pronounced "water," which sounded to me more like "warter," and my mom lost most of hers. I love everything English. I love English muffins, hot tea with milk and sugar, soft boiled eggs, roast lamb, breaded pork chops, and plum pudding (which my mother called Christmas pudding and made it frequently until she was very old). I love Welsh Cakes, especially with hot tea, the way they drink it in England. My mother loved England and missed it until the day she died. She was always homesick for England and I felt guilty visiting when she never was able. I visited England twice and felt like I was home. The decorations in people's homes were exactly the way my mother's parents' home was. My grandmother drove a little blue Hillman Minx automobile for a time, but Granddad never drove. He was a carpenter, house painter and interior decorator. I miss them also. I feel about England the way President Trump and King Charles spoke about it today, reminding us of the historical bond that we share. I want to go watch the videos of the speeches and toasts shared today. I love the fact that our history is intertwined. I love the English language. I speak quite a bit of Spanish and a bit of French, so I love languages in general, but I adore English. I know it is difficult to learn if it is not your native language, and I am glad that it is my native language. It is so interesting, so kind of crazy, but that's what I love about it. I love that there are so many ways to say things in English. If you want to say anything intelligent, sometimes you have to really think about it. Of course, a lot of people don't do that, especially today and especially on social media. I hate to say that, but you know it's true. I just recently learned about English robins. They are totally different from American robins. I never knew this before. My mother never told me about European robins versus American robins. But she did kind of turn me off of iced tea. She thought it was awful, kind of like an insult to the real thing, you know. I still don't care much for it, with one exception: the watermelon tea at Hog Wild. I can't even do an English accent anymore. Once I asked my mom how to do it and she said, "Just pronounce the words correctly." I love it so much. Enjoy life, wherever you are. It is beautiful.