Posts Tagged ‘Margaret Warren’

MARGARET WARREN

(10 February 1918 to 21 January 2010)

After nearly 92 years of a fantastic life, my Grandmother passed away last Thursday.  She was not just a grandmother but a great friend too, someone I lived just a 6 or so minute drive away from, and a real fighter with so much love for her family and her many friends.  We could all do a lot by following in her footsteps and holding true to core values and principles of love, honour, integrity, duty and respect.

Here is my eulogy that I delivered at the All Saints Chapel of Purewa Cemetary and Crematorium in Meadowbank, Auckland this morning.  It is not one of sadness, but one of remembrance:

Today is our chance to say goodbye to a truly special lady.  Granny brightened our lives, and was truly blessed to be granted a full life. Granny was an amazing lady, with so much love for her family and friends.  I never heard her complain or whinge, right up to 2 hours before her peaceful death.  That was when I last spoke with her, to get her shopping list for the week, with Mum and Dad away in Melbourne.  Even then she was asking how Liam was, and what Bridget and I were doing for the day.

My sister Sarah and I loved being able to walk just a couple of hundred metres from Cornwall Park Primary School to see Granny and Granddad at Maungakiekie Avenue to play on their tennis court with them, or in their beautiful garden; to go to Ngaiwi Street in Orakei to throw a ball around, as I did with Grandad just before he died in May 1991.  I will always treasure the memories of her cooking, the delicious chocolate fudge, self-saucing puddings, shepherds pies, I had with her  - she was an outstanding cook.

Granny was so very excited about Sarah’s engagement to James. She was keenly awaiting their June 19th arrival back to Auckland for good, and their March 2011 wedding. Granny and I had just spoken about how great Sarah was at sending her postcards pretty much every week. Granny had amassed a beautiful collection from most of the 80 or so countries that Sarah had visited since she goes travelling most weekends, that gave her so much pleasure and joy.

I could always visit and talk to Granny about sport – she always kept up with netball, rugby and cricket results – and I enjoyed having her over sometimes to watch our Auckland netball and rugby teams, on my big screen TV so she could actually see the ball! She was very fond of her great-grandson Liam, even when he ate her ornaments and leaves off trees in her garden!

With Granny passing away a special bit of my life goes. I will always cherish her memories of the past, including what our magnificient city used to be like, her childhood, going to Waiheke Island in 9 different decades, all the special times with Granddad, and her friends both here today and those she will now join in heaven.

I hope today that we can set aside the sadness and instead celebrate all that Granny was, all that she did, and all that she lived for.

I love you Granny, I always will, and I miss you so much already.

Finally to remember yet another extremely happy time (of which there were so very many); here’s a photo of Granny at Bridget and my March 2007 wedding: