Wings for Maddie

This evening I attended a memorial service for a wonderful lady I met only a couple of times.

But as I sat there and listened to people who loved her talk about her, I recognized her immediately. The feeling of love and welcoming and care and connection that her friends of forty years, her loved-ones, her colleagues got from her - was what I had felt from her, in only two short encounters. When she spoke to me, I felt that she really cared about me.

Maddie did so much for so many people. She helped young musicians, she helped wounded members of our military, she helped families of people in dire trouble, and she supported research in the cure of diseases. She befriended her kids' friends, their teammates; she cared for neighbors and colleagues and random people she happened to encounter.

Here's a nice article about her, and what she did. And you can read more about Maddie and her husband's support for wounded soldiers here.

Over 700 people attended her memorial. That speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Today I learned from those who spoke at the event that she liked to collect pigs. So here's my flying pig weathervane, smiling for you, Maddie.