An Audience With the Queen

I don't remember how old I was when I first became enamored with the legend of King Arthur ... maybe it was when I saw the Disney film "The Sword in the Stone" as a child. There's something so magical about Arthur removing the sword that is embedded in the stone and becoming king ... and the legends of Camelot ... oh, my goodness, I simply love them. I'm pretty sure I've seen every King Arthur movie ever made, and, yes, of course I've read all the books ... of course I have. There are few literary characters who can draw me in and allow me to escape the struggles of life quite like King Arthur, Merlin the wizard, Lancelot the rogue turned knight and Guinevere the Queen. Add in Excalibur (the sword), the Holy Grail (the cup of Christ) and the Round Table (where all the knights sat), and, in my opinion, you've got some of the finest literature ever written.

I've never met a person of royalty, though I think it would be way cool to do so ... except for the fact that I don't know a curtsy from a cheese curd and would probably really mess up the proper method for greeting a king, queen, prince or princess. As those of you who know me will confirm, there's not one thing fancy or royal about me ... not one, single, solitary thing. I couldn't begin to tell you which fork to use at a fancy restaurant, and we all know that shopping for casual cocktail attire freaked me out so much that a friend went with me to help me choose clothes to wear to last year's office holiday party. Now that I think about it, maybe meeting a person of royalty isn't such a good idea for me ... I'm pretty sure my suspenders and Converse shoes wouldn't make the greatest impression on a king or queen.

There is one Queen in my life, however, who doesn't give a hoot about my clothes or my shoes or whether or not I know the proper things to do or say in the presence of royalty. In fact, she doesn't know how to curtsy, either ... at least not yet anyway. What she does care about is that I laugh with her and play with her and hug her and kiss her cheeks and tickle her tummy and read to her and love her. I'm sure you guys know who I'm talking about ... my little granddaughter C.J. Her middle name is Queen, named after her maternal great grandmother who passed away shortly after C.J. was born, and if ever a name fit a little girl ... Queen more than fits little Miss C.J.

The little Canadian Queen (and her mom and dad) arrived in Kansas this afternoon, and she is now sound asleep at her other grandma's house. And tomorrow evening, I will make the 40-minute drive to see her ... to laugh with her ... to play with her ... to hug her ... to kiss her cheeks ... to tickle her tummy ... to read to her ... and to love her. See, here's the thing ... C.J. cares about the important things in life ... love, laughter and living. She has the innocence of being a baby, of being pure and honest and ... well ... she has the awesome freedom to be herself from the top of her adorable little head to the bottom of her sweet baby feet. 

Tomorrow evening, I'll have an audience with the Queen ... the only Queen who really matters to me. All those other royal folks? Pish posh, I say ... the most beautiful, special, intelligent, amazing, precious Queen in the universe ... yep, she's my granddaughter, and tomorrow night, she'll be snuggled in her Granny's arms. Best audience with a Queen ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.