A Telegram From the Queen

A Telegram from the Queen An interview with Maisie Widdop, On her very special day. Her telegram from the queen has arrived, and has something, she wants to say. Maisie please tell our readers, This most wonderful story of yours, When you were but a small child, A new world, was opening its doors. "We are going on an adventure, My Mother would frequently say to me. A brand new life for all of us, It will be marvellous, you wait and see. Travelling in luxury and elegance, Splendour, Grandeur will know no bounds, Seven days of fun filled decadence, Our feet won't touch the ground, Nothing but the best for us, Clever Daddy has taken good care. You and me will want for nothing, On his life he'd promise and swear. We are sailing on the Tenth my love, So we really must look our best, Just in case the Captain invites us, To his table, as special guests I was just a Baby at the time, My Father was taking us oversea. A brave new world across the Pond, He said, that's where work will be. We were due to leave early April, But I got a fever and couldn't sail. Mother told Father "you go on ahead" and we would follow soon, without fail. Poor Father never reached New York, On that fateful sailing ship. So, we remained forever in England, Never wanting to make the trip. A twist of fate and I'm still here, One hundred years old today. Mother died back in Eighty-Three, Ninety-Two when she passed away. She told me this same heartfelt story, From my birth, until the day she died. Third class, sounded grand to her But she knew; thought of Father and cried"