I’d heard of the news of Queen’s Elizabeth II’s health since around 8:00 PM in my local time, and it’s gonna take time getting used to picturing a UK and Commonwealth without her…

Given some of my tendencies, I honestly thought she’d outlive me for a while, but it’s such a weird feeling to live through history, especially when I saw the news around 30 seconds after it first broke…

This kind of post is unusual for me, but I’d like to offer my respects to Her Majesty, her surviving family, and the Commonwealth at large.

Despite all her controversies and all the negative press around her here, she lived one hell of a life and led for seven decades of our world’s history.

Wherever we live, and whatever our opinions on Queen Elizabeth II or the monarchy are, I really hope we can find it in ourselves to show some basic courtesy during this time.

Personally, I’ll be postponing my original write-up for today to next week—There’s a lot we can say about sensitivity, and I’d rather not mess that up for any of us right now…

Even living here on the opposite side of the world, I can’t name anyone I know who hasn’t heard of the Queen… and it’s hard for me to imagine anyone else in our century who’ll ever have this level of recognition, adoration, or admiration.

Sending all the love to everyone affected by this loss, and if you’re among them, I hope all the best for your coming weekend! These last years have been way too gruelling for our world…

And it’s kind of a harrowing thought that, for one reason or another, this may be the last many of us will see a Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms in our lifetimes…

– 海咲むんだえ