RIP QEII

I was at work yesterday morning when rumors began to swirl that the Queen's death was imminent. We all knew she was in ill health and had been for days, and after all she was 96 years old, so it wasn't a surprise. Our dark humor kicked in almost immediately. A co-worker wondered how much time off we'd get -- we did some Googling and surprisingly the answer wasn't all that clear-cut, since a nearly two-week period of national mourning was planned.

I didn't expect it to happen as quickly as it did, though. When we heard in the afternoon that the family was gathering at Balmoral I realized how serious this was, and even then, she seemed to die so rapidly. It's remarkable that just a couple of days ago she was greeting the new prime minister.

But Elizabeth took her duty seriously, as we've seen over and over throughout her life. Being a living symbol can't be easy, because it doesn't leave much room to be a person, certainly not in the public sphere. But she approached her role with steadfastness and grace.

Last night Dave and I watched the BBC as the news developed. We saw Liz Truss' speech in front of 10 Downing Street, in which she let it be known that the new monarch would be known as King Charles III. Then I took Olga for a walk on the high street to see if I saw any evidence of the news.

Dave and I have talked about this moment for years. Almost since we got here, we've known it was likely that we'd be here for Elizabeth's death. We got a glimmer of what it might be like when Prince Philip died last year.

So I wasn't sure what to expect. Would there be signs? Black bunting? People crying? Would shops or restaurants close?

Well, last night at least, it remained pretty much business as usual, from what I could tell. People were in the pubs and restaurants, and no one seemed tearful or upset. I suppose, just like us, everyone knew it was coming. There will no doubt be more physical evidence of mourning in the coming days.

I did get an e-mail from Kew Gardens saying it would close today "as a mark of respect," and the royal palaces are also unsurprisingly closed. I'm sure there will be other closures, but we'll be back at school as usual. I would wear black except I don't have any black clothes. I'll go with something muted.

It's very strange to think of the world without Queen Elizabeth. She's been such a constant for all of us -- Queen for longer than many of us have been alive, the only British monarch we've ever known. I never saw her during my time here in England, which isn't unusual. The Royals are not that easy to see. I did see her more than 30 years ago in Tampa, which I've written about a couple of times before. And I went to see her Jubilee flotilla back in 2012, which made for an interesting day out, but I didn't even glimpse the Queen herself.

Jubilees had come to seem a fairly frequent occurrence, but we won't have any more for a while. Possibly a long, long while.

I'm not necessarily a monarchist or even a huge fan of the royal family, though I do respect and appreciate the Queen. I think many, many people feel the same way. It will be interesting to see how the country and the monarchy change now. Charles has talked in the past of a desire to make changes, and I often heard people speculate that the role of royalty in British society would shift after her death. Here we are, at that point.

I did and do feel some sadness, but also resignation at the inevitability of this event. It's kind of the same way I approach the ill health of my mother. I'll be sorry to see her go, but given her age and infirmity it would hardly be a shock. Life ends for us all, and the only constant is change.