The COVID-19 Diary: Thursday 08 September

During the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s death today it was mentioned more than once that during her seventy year reign she only took three vacations as a private citizen. All of them were to Kentucky. She visited Kentucky five times altogether.

During her visit in 1986 she attended Morning Prayer at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Versailles. The rector at the time was Carl Belden, who had been in my Great Aunt Mary’s first grade class at McKinney Elementary School in Hustonville, KY. He was a great source of comfort to my family when she passed away and gave one of the eulogies at her funeral. She meant that much to him.

I share this because it’s a reminder to me that we’re all connected, often more closely than we think. We should care about and for each other, regardless of any differences. I think the story of a priest that held a service attended by a monarch and preached at a schoolteacher’s funeral is a good example of that.

Here’s a news report of the Queen’s visit to St. John’s. Side note: Former KY Governor A. B. “Happy” Chandler was also Commissioner of Baseball when Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.

And Ms. Eureth White had to sit clear across the church.