During her long reign, Queen Elizabeth II visited the United States six times. Her first occurred in 1959. Part of that 45 day tour, mostly in Canada, she stopped for 14 hours in my home town of Chicago.
I was only 11 at the time and don't remember it. The only thing I remember from that year are my good friends, the White Sox losing the World Series, the Cubs losing as always, and the mayor, Richard J. Daley.
They did a lot of things in those 14 hours including a ritzy formal dinner as well as the obligatory parade stuff.
Richard J Daley was born in 1902 and died December 20, 1976
He was the mayor of Chicago from 1955 until the day of his death. He was a force of nature, bombastic at his worst and a true lover of his city at his best. For many people, he was Chicago as much as columnist Mike Royko and radio personality Studs Terkel. For all his faults and foibles, he was the city. Love him or hate him, he was part of the soul of Chicago.
For over 20 years, the better parts of three different decades, Daley was the power in the city. To a much greater extent Elizabeth was the power in England. For 70 years, parts of eight decades, she ruled the British Commonwealth with, by all accounts, dignity and integrity. Daley dedicated his life to service of his city. Elizabeth dedicated her life to service of her country.
This is a true story in my life:
My first wife and I were driving our usual route into the city from Wisconsin to visit my parents who lived on the northwest side in the Belmont-Cragin area. It was Christmas Day, just a few days after his death.
As we hit the city limits on I-94. A felt something. It was a sense of loss. I didn’t say anything. A few minutes later, my wife said, “Something’s wrong. Something is missing.”
Although she had never lived in Chicago, and hadn’t ever lived in the state, she felt what I have felt. It was indeed something missing. It was a sense of mourning that the entire city was feeling. I said, "You're right. Daley's gone. It's three million people grieving."
I think I told my former students that story a number of times when we talked on English things and Queen Victoria and Elizabeth came up in class discussions. This is not to say that Elizabeth was like Daley or that Daley was as important as Elizabeth. There is, however, a collective consciousness that cities and countries have. It is a common feeling a sense of being connected and effected by one another’s similar experiences.
I know what I felt on that December day, that sense of loss and sorrow, I can only imagine what England is feeling together today.
