COLUMN: Legacy queen a ‘Southern’ girl with international flair

Yvonne Gabriel considers herself a Southern girl.

No, she did not grow up eating grits or wake up in the morning to the smell of sweet magnolias outside her window.

Tulips, maybe, but not magnolias.

She was born and raised in the South … the southern part of The Netherlands.

Today, Yvonne will participate in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in her adopted hometown of Macon.

It will be a thrill because sitting on a float in a pink dress can now be scratched off her bucket list.

As the festival’s “legacy queen,’’ she will wear a crown on her head — both literally and figuratively.

“Being legacy queen is kind of a crown in our whole, American adventure,’’ Yvonne said.

Macon is celebrating the 40th year of the International Cherry Blossom Festival, which touts its theme of “love, beauty and international friendship.’’

In the festival’s long history, Yvonne might be the only member of the royalty court who is fluent in four languages — Dutch, German, French and English. She is married to local physician, Dr. Sabry Gabriel, who is from Alexandria, Egypt.

Yvonne and her sisters grew up in Heerle, a tiny village in the province of Brabant. Her father owned a small company that sold and repaired agricultural machines.

“It was kind of like a village Home Depot,’’ she said, laughing.

The Netherlands, sometimes known as Holland, is a land of tulips, windmills, cheese and wooden shoes. In her youth, Yvonne wore wooden shoes, with thick socks, to keep her feet warm. (Yes, they were uncomfortable, but a lot of women’s shoes are.)

When she was 24, she left her native country for the Middle East, where she was a flight attendant with Gulf Air.

“The Dutch are great travelers and explorers,’’ she said. “It’s in our blood. Working as a flight attendant, I was able to travel and see the world.’’

She later became a registered nurse, and her journey took her New York, the melting pot of the world.

“It blew my mind how big this country is and the amount of opportunity that exists here,’’ Yvonne said,

She lived in New York, then Houston, Texas, before moving to Atlanta, where she met her husband, an orthopedic surgeon. Sabry Gabriel now has a family practice in Macon.

Yvonne moved to Macon in 1992 — 30 years ago this year. The festival was in its 10th year. She was impressed by the friendliness of the people, as well as the beauty of springtime in Middle Georgia.

“It’s not just the (cherry) blossoms,’’ she said. “Almost everything blooms at the same time. It is so gorgeous.’’

From the beginning, she and her husband and two children — Nadia and Samy — immersed themselves in the festival. The parade always has been one of her favorite events.

Now, she gets to be in it.

“We have rarely missed a parade,’’ she said. “We especially like the marching bands. That’s something we don’t have in Europe.’’

She has become well-known and well-respected in the Macon art community. She is a portrait artist and is an adjunct professor in the art department at Mercer University.

Living in the Deep South for more than three decades has not entirely erased her Dutch accent. And it probably never will.

“It’s funny how I will say three words and people will say, ‘You’re not from around here, are you?” she said.

Yvonne, 58, was proud to be named as the festival’s legacy queen, a category for women 55 years old and over. But she joked she is not the first member of the family with a tie to royalty.

The Gabriel’s dog, Archie, is named after Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the great grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.