{"id":1237,"date":"2013-04-11T14:09:08","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T13:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1237"},"modified":"2013-04-11T14:32:03","modified_gmt":"2013-04-11T13:32:03","slug":"i-met-her-once","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1237","title":{"rendered":"I Met Her Once…."},"content":{"rendered":"

I met her once.\u00a0 We had been waiting expectantly for half an hour.\u00a0 She was late.\u00a0 When she finally entered the room, she surfed on a wave of power and authority – like the entrance of the Queen of Sheba without the music.<\/p>\n

Calm, collected, nose in the air, she frowned with complete disdain for the cohort of journalists who were between us and the doorway.\u00a0 The flash-guns had fired like a set of uncoordinated fireworks as soon as the door had opened.<\/p>\n

I remember vividly the soundman for the BBC camera crew who had a long, extended microphone covered in a sausage-shaped, fluffy sound muffler.\u00a0 He was lying on the floor to get out of the way of the cameras that were pointing at her.\u00a0 She virtually kicked him and made a comment (I can\u2019t remember the exact words but it was something like) \u201cthat\u2019s where you guys belong – on the floor\u201d.\u00a0 She could easily have said \u201cscumbag\u201d – but I don\u2019t think she did!\u00a0 It was all part of the drama.<\/p>\n

She gave her short speech for the evening news and the twenty or so journalists were ushered out of the room with the sense of urgency that a hassled mistress of the house would want when letting her servants\u00a0 sweep the floor after a spill or a mess had been made by the dog.<\/p>\n

\"Thatcher\"<\/a><\/p>\n

She said \u201cAre they all gone?\u201d\u00a0 There was silence.\u00a0 A few nodded their heads to affirm they had all left.\u00a0 The atmosphere changed immediately.\u00a0 Less formal.\u00a0 Yet still quite tense. \u00a0She was on a mission.\u00a0 She wanted answers to questions.\u00a0 She was impatient.\u00a0 Dennis just wanted a drink.\u00a0 He relaxed everyone by saying something like \u201cGood, let\u2019s have a drink\u201d.<\/p>\n

She was born the same year as my father, in another era, another age.\u00a0 What was important then is now no longer so important.\u00a0 What was pressing then is now, in hindsight, much less pressing – even trivial. \u00a0\u00a0Yet, at the time, she had the power.\u00a0 She had the authority.\u00a0 She had the sense of purpose.\u00a0 She got the attention and wanted change. \u00a0Yet, for all the words, my longest-lasting memory was the feeling<\/strong><\/span> I had when she entered the room. \u00a0Words cannot describe the electric presence she exuded. \u00a0I’ve seldom had that feeling from anyone, man or woman, either before or since.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I met her once.\u00a0 We had been waiting expectantly for half an hour.\u00a0 She was late.\u00a0 When she finally entered the room, she surfed on a wave of power and authority – like the entrance of the Queen of Sheba without the music. Calm, collected, nose in the air, she frowned with complete disdain for … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “I Met Her Once….”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[78,41,47,80,67,103,52,85,57],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DQGK-jX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1195,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1195","url_meta":{"origin":1237,"position":0},"title":"The Story of the Broken Pot (of Honey)","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"14\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The older I get, the more I believe in coincidences. \u00a0And one of the strange coincidences that I have recently discovered is that there are a set of stories that are told in slightly different forms all around the world - as if they all had their roots in one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Attention"","block_context":{"text":"Attention","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"iStock_000009374542XSmall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/iStock_000009374542XSmall-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2059,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=2059","url_meta":{"origin":1237,"position":1},"title":"TT2015 – Waiting for Cora\u2019s Return","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"09\/04\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In classical Greek Mythology, Persephone(Who was also known as Kore or Cora)Was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.Hades abducted her to his underworldWhere she lives before returning in springTo cause the cycle of life to continue. 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Flow isn\u2019t just a great feeling;It\u2019s also one of the main\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Big Ideas","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=42"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/waterfall-204398_640.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1482,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1482","url_meta":{"origin":1237,"position":4},"title":"Measurement Madness","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"07\/01\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I met up recently with an old friend. She has decided to give up work in March. The hospital she has worked in for many years as a family therapist was transferred from the private sector to the public\u00a0sector last year. 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