The Queenie Effect

She’s a straight talking, tough love giving, sassy black woman that isn’t afraid to get down and party with the youngsters because if you haven’t already heard, sixty is the new twenty-five. She’s a ball of energy that doesn’t have an off switch, a trait I can admit to have inherited and she doesn’t take shit from anyone.

Queenie is strong, she has a strength I’ve never experienced before and she taught me how to be strong too. It’s not often you see her vulnerable side but it’s there, noticeable when she let’s a tear escape as she tries not to worry, telling you she’s fine yet not saying much and speaking quietly. That’s when you know she’s far from fine because Queenie doesn’t do quiet, it’s not in her nature, trust me. It’s not often she talks about her feelings but once you know her you quickly begin to realise that her facial expressions are what allow you to see into her thoughts. Usually because her mouth will be saying one thing but her face will be speaking an entirely different set of words and this is precisely where the real truth lies. It's also highly entertaining watching her struggle to hide her true thoughts when it's clear she's definitely lying. Over the years she has tried and failed multiple times to stop this but it never works.

When Queenie is in a good mood you know about it. Reggae music plays through the speakers, accompanied by high pitched, out of tune singing of songs she refuses to learn the correct lyrics to. If it so happens to be a weekend this will all be done alongside mixing up a jug of rum punch and cooking up multiple pots of food, giving us those much needed island vibes we grew up with.

Queenie has and continues to teach me a lot, she taught me how not to sweat the small stuff and that if you don’t ask you’ll never know, ‘The worst that can happen is they say no,’ her usual response when one of us is struggling to make a work related decision. She taught me to make dreams a reality, ‘stop saying you wish you could do it, you’re twenty-four years old, go and do it’. She always made sure to teach me how to do things for myself and most importantly she taught me to love myself which sometimes is a lot easier said than done. She taught me to make no apologies for who I am or where I come from and she knows exactly who she is and doesn’t change for anyone, no matter who you are she ‘aint changing, she is who she is and I respect her for that. Queenie told me that knowing your own worth is important and that you don’t know unless you try.

Although her wise words may not be written about in a famous book or quoted by students in essays, she definitely knows a thing or two about life. So I’ll keep my own little book of wisdom stored in my mind knowing that it came first hand, signed, sealed and delivered by Queenie herself.