The Queen, God bless her.

I am decidedly not grumpy about the Queen. Watched her Christmas message today and thought it was good sense well said. Then tonight I watched the BBC production of The Queen at 80.

Imagine at the tender age of 25 ascending to the throne of England and the Commonwealth and promising always to do your duty and to devote your life to the service of the Commonwealth. And 55 years later, she has kept that promise and her faith with the people.

Someone during the program said that she is always mindful that for every person who meets her, it will be a highlight of their life; she is, therefore, never less than kind and thoughtful and at her very best so their memory will be and remain a positive one.

I don't know about you but I can't make it through a week, with the best of intentions, anywhere near that level of civility and kindness and thoughtfulness. That she has now spent more than 50 years as Queen and no one can site a time when she put a foot wrong, is an amazing record. One could argue that she missed completely the public's feelings at the time Diana died, but if the worst that can be said of her is that she assumed, wrongly as it turned out, people would understand grieving in private, then I rest my case.

We live in an age of disposable heroes and disposable leaders. Individuals who can withstand the demands of fame and the rigor of always living up to peoples' expectations can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The program on the Queen reinforced that view but so, too, did a warm-up program leading to the World Junior Hockey tournament this week.

Wayne Gretzky is the only other individual I can think of who continues to hold the profound respect of his countrymen and his peers and colleagues. He has had the laser light of public scrutiny shining on him since he was 10 years old and now, more than 30 years later, he remains true to the standards he seems to have set for himself.

The Queen and the Gretz - two very good reasons why I am NOT Grumpy in Toronto tonight.