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I don't think I've ever posted photos of myself, other than my profile picture. This blog isn't really about "me" although I hope my voice is distinct in what, and how, I write. Personalized blogs are really boring, after the initial fascination with who the individual is, so I've always avoided that.
Now, after that long explanation! I decided to post the above photo.
I was chosen to present flowers to Emperor Haile Selassie. The dress and cape were especially made for the occasion. I wasn't really instructed on what to do, how to do it, and what to do after I gave the flowers. But, I do remember following closely behind. I was rewarded with a call from the Emperor to join him at the end of the tour. He took my hand, my wrist as I remember and as the photo shows, and led me toward the exit, asking me my name, and questions about my school. I was not shy at all, and talked, like little girls do, to this nice old man, with the pleasant smile who didn't seem at all like the imposing figure that everyone seemed to fear.
Later on, people were gently admonishing me for looking straight in his eyes when giving the flowers. But look at how seriously he took my small task of giving him the flowers. And he must have found me just a little amusing, with his interested and gentle smile as he took my hand.
Within a year of my flower presentation, my family left hurriedly for France, which projected me into a whirlwind of cities and countries from Paris, to Dover (England), Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut in the US, and now in Toronto Canada.
And not short after that, the Emperor was no more.
It is only recently that Ethiopians who believed in those "changes" are having second (weak) thoughts about those events. Things didn't turn out as they had planned (although "planned" is too definitive of "revolutions." A better work, to give them some credit, might be "hoped.")
The country will never return to monarchy, but ordinary people are yearning for some kind of hierarchical stability, where good men, and good kings, through spiritual and traditional guidance, tried to rule with their best interests at heart.