Edward du Cann (photo bankruptcyandinsolvency.blog)

Meryl Streep's new film The Iron Lady reminds me that I once dated a man who helped Margaret Thatcher climb to the heights of power.

In my twenties, when I was living in New York, the mother of my friend Ned called from Chicago's North Shore and invited me to make a fourth when she and her husband took one of his clients to dinner and the theatre in Manhattan. All she said about the client was that he was British, single, and a Member of Parliament. I agreed with unseemly eagerness. Given the size of my paycheck, an evening that offered not only theater I couldn't afford and dinner in a restaurant I couldn't afford but also the chance to meet an eligible English Member of Parliament was irresistible. Oh, and it would be nice to see Ned's parents, too.

I met them and their Englishman, Edward Dillon Lott du Cann, for cocktails at the Sherry Netherland, where they were staying. We went on to a scrumptious dinner before the theater and then, afterward, back to the Sherry Netherland for a nightcap and a nosh. I ordered a club sandwich.

A couple of weeks after our date, I received a note from Edward in London on a crested Parliament note card. He wrote, "Here's to the prettiest hollow leg in New York!"

Not long after the memorable evening with Edward, I married a man I will call Thad and we planned a trip to London. I brazenly wrote to Edward—who had also married. He and his wife invited us to tea in their charming London townhouse, and Edward gave Thad and me two tickets for Parliament.

On the day that Thad and I visited Parliament, our great good fortune was to discover that Sir Winston Churchill was also visiting. He sat in the front row, and we could see him clearly, which was a stunning privilege. He didn't speak, but as Thad and I enjoyed the smart, witty give and take of MPs, the silent former Prime Minister was clearly the star.

Leaving the Parliament building, we saw that a crowd had gathered on the sidewalk. Although I knew the answer, I asked a bobby why they were there.

He said, "The old gentleman is inside."

Indeed he was.

I have not seen Edward again but have followed his career first with interest and pride and later with sympathy. He became chairman of the Conservative Party and a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.

He played a significant role in Margaret Thatcher's becoming Prime Minister, and one of the key meetings in this political drama took place, I believe, at the home where Thad and I had visited Edward and his wife. In these details, I feel close to history-in-the making and yet far from it.