The Royal Wedding

Buckingham Palace gates

I am always troubled when local news channels feel it necessary to make a “Connecticut connection” to some faraway tragedy—be it a natural disaster or tragic plane crash—as if viewers will only respond with sympathy to a senseless tragedy if someone within a hundred mile radius of their home is among the dead. Yet I also understand personal relevance and experience and admit that my ears perk up and my eyes focus a bit more when a news story is being broadcast from, or a scene in a movie or television commercial is filmed in, a place I’ve been—especially a European one.

I have seen the Trevi fountain in Rome and have been up close and personal to the statue of David in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, and it forever changed how I see them on TV. It has been thrilling to see the news stories from London and be able to say (to myself, pretty much) I’ve been there! Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar square, Kensington Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, even Harrod’s, are all places I recognize because they are places I’ve been. Moreover, they are part of my personal experience now.

Big Ben and the London Eye

When Charles and Diana married, all the scenes were foreign to me. I was 16 and probably more interested in going shopping or cruising around in the kielbasa wagon with Jill, but I watched like the rest of the world, with the same tepid interest of someone who doesn’t watch baseball all season, but tunes in to the World Series.

This Friday will be different. I look forward to watching the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton with different eyes and different interest, with genuine excitement and a longing to be there--again.