...an ode to Margaret

Dave and I attended his grandma Margaret Lydia Winters Madsen's funeral on Friday, March 25. I met her only once, at our wedding, so I got to know her through the stories and words shared at her funeral.

Here are some of the many memorable parts of the funeral:

A story told by her daughter Marilyn--
Margaret wrote “At family gatherings, I suppose we children were rowdy and active because Uncle Leonard used to line us up along the couch in the sitting room and offer 5 cents to the one who could be quiet the longest. I never did win, but would look at my cousins and burst into laughter!”

A statement, shared by her son Kent, said by President Joseph F. Smith--
". . . to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all man-kind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman. One is universal and eternal greatness, the other is ephemeral."


This last story was told by her granddaughter Elana--
"Even when she got older she still was very witty and full of life. I remember one time she was talking to by brother Nathan on the phone while he was on his mission. When she was done talking to him, and was going to hand the phone to one of my uncles [her son], she couldn’t remember his name. So while on the phone she said “Nathan do you wanna talk to…wanna talk to…oh you guess who it is!”


Elana found a note on Margaret's fridge after she died that read, "Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you. I loved you so."

The funeral was a celebration of her life and goodness. It is wonderful to know she is now with her husband, siblings, and friends and that we will all see her again in a healthy and happy state. I admire the way she lived a simple life and spent her time and energy loving people.