Royalty

My mother would always say that she was royalty in a past life. She would say that she was drawn to all things regal. I believe her.

When I was a little kid at Shady Park Elementary School in good old North Braddock Pennsylvania, I was bullied and labeled a day dreamer. I was sent to stand in a corner at school sometimes because I couldn’t fall in line. I was punched in my stomach everyday by a little boy that lived a few blocks over. I saw him at a gym several years ago. He tried to engage me in conversation but I couldn’t. Even as an adult I still felt traumatized. He reached out on social media with a friend request some years after that but I still couldn’t bring myself to accept. To this day I can’t forget the daily agony that he caused me. I’m sure he has no idea what effect he had on me and the way that I viewed boys after that. There was also a boy in middle school that would hideout in the boys bathroom and drag girls inside that were just trying to pass by to get to their next class. I’m not sure why this was fun for him. I don't know if he was groping them or just dragging them inside. He would only select the more popular girls for this particular torment. I mostly didn't make the cut, thank goodness. I suppose I was too much of and egghead. He did try to snatch me once. Perhaps pickings were slim that particular day but I evaded his grasp and made a mental note to find any other way to get through the hallways and to avoid that boys bathroom. Even if it meant walking completely all the way around the school. I was a hyper sensitive child and extremely emotional. I cried a lot in elementary school. I always had my head in any book that I could find, even the dictionary. I was an excellent student but was teased for being intellectual. It took me years to figure out who I am and to know that being different isn’t a punishment it’s a gift!

I have always been drawn to all things royal too I suppose. I have always been a bit “extra” when it comes to the finer things, if you will. Pierre, my husband shared to me that both of of our residents in Paris have been a palace or a place where royalty would spend time decades past. The Kings hostels were located where our first apartment is in Paris near the Hotel des Tournelles. It was owned by several kings of France. Henry II of Franco lived there with is wife Catherine de Medici and died there in 1559. The apartment that we purchased several years ago , was the royal residence of Charles V in 1360, Hotel Saint-Pol. It was a building that was constructed on the ruins of an other building that was constructed by Louis IX. At some point I want us to by a chateau and then fix it up into something regal. There are so many old houses here that need some love and probably a bit of hard work. I’m sure that we can find something. Then I can be the queen of my own little castle.

Actually, I believe that royalty is a state of mind. Class cannot be bought. It can, however, be learned. Etiquette and manors will take you further in life than money. Being well bred is a commodity that is undervalued. I have no patience for rudeness. Pushy will get you absolutely nowhere with me. A please and a thank you can open vast doors. I wrote previously about the dying art of conversation. I think it’s something that should be taught in schools. Talking is a lost art form… lost to texting and emails. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to just talk to people its quite amazing. I definitely got that from my mama! I’ve also mentioned that they have tables set up on the quai Henry IV in Paris where you can talk to people. There are volunteers that have a small card table set up that are there just to listen to whatever subject it is that you choose and you talk to them for a set amount of time. I love this concept.  My mother told me she would be comfortable sitting down next to a queen of any given country and having a conversation. The part that she would leave out is that they had better be good listeners because the woman sure could talk! I feel the same though. I could and often do, according to my daughter, talk to anyone. Treating people equally is also something that sets apart royalty. So yes… I suppose I am not unlike my mom in those aspects. Perhaps we really are dependents of kings and queens. My brother and I did our DNA profiles. The report says the we share a family lineage back to Pharaoh Ramses the III probably from North Africa or perhaps west Asia. It’s amazing to me just how strong genetics can be.

I often wonder what the sensitive, curious little girl would think of this grownup version of herself. It took many years to find my self confidence and my true voice. It took a lot of punches and pain. It took not listening to those internal and external voices that are often discouraging and deprecating. The voices that often try to stop greatness for no good reason. It took a lot of work to quiet my restless spirit and to love me. Royalty cannot spend time caring what others think of them. They know that there will always be a group that will criticize and perhaps not like them at all. That is just a price one has to pay to be royal, or famous, or wealthy or successful. Honestly we queens (and kings) have so much more to think about than others perception of us. I saw this quote posted on social media recently. “ They laughed at me because I am different. I laugh at them because they are all the same. Live differently. You will never ever regret it! Signed…. Her Royal Highness