Roy and Anni, waiting for the Royal Motorcade, British Columbia, 1959.
1959, June 18 to Aug. 1: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited several cities on their journey through B.C. on the royal train.
Natch, I have no memory of the Big Day when the Queen came to town (it sometimes occurs to me that I have no childhood memories at all). Anni, of course, invariably has loads of memories, although I have not yet asked her for them for this particular occasion. She's the sort who, in all situations in which it is conceivable that one might remember something, will claim to remember everything and more.
If I ask her, I will gird my loins.
Mom and pop moved to Canada—first to the east coast—in 1951 when they were 17 and 18 respectively. They met on the boat from Germany. They each had, like, a hundred bucks (courtesy of the nation of Canada, which, it seems, is officially a "federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy," with the Chuckster as King!).
Anni came along in '54 and I came along a year later. By then, we lived in BC, on the west coast. That's where the jobs were for electricians like pop. We lived mostly in the backcountry, at construction sites way up in the mountains. Hydroelectric plants, I think.
I recall—years later—my mom speaking fondly of the Queen. "She's a nice lady," mom liked to say. My dad offered similar utterances: "I don't think she's too bright, but she's a nice lady."
I think pop shook Philip's hand at some construction site. I've got pics somewhere.
My folks are gone now, like the Queen. All nice. Only photos remain.
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| Philip visits pop's workplace |
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| The little family: Pop, Roy, Anni, Mom |
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| Living in a trailer way up in the Canadian Rockies |
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| Pop (4th from left) and his pals, c. 1957 |
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| "A nice lady" |
God save the Queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
God save the Queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming
