Wendy Archibald's funeral

About a month ago, I was trying to do an Instagram post where I put an emoji for each year of the last 10 to signify what was going on in our lives. It was a fun exercise which included going back to my blog books to see what was going on. I read a bunch of posts to Maddy about her birth and about when she was little and the funny things she used to do. In the end, it made me kind of long for a place where I could write down my thoughts and feelings and stories so I wouldn't forget them. So, since we are at the beginning of a year, I thought maybe I should start it up again. No point in trying to catch up on anything old, but just see about moving forward maybe.

And with that in mind, a recap of January 2020, the beginning of a new decade.

January essentially started with the funeral of Wendy Archibald on Saturday 4 January. Wendy is the wife of Lyle Archibald, our dear friend and director of Odyssey Chorale.

I first met her on the choir tour we took with Odyssey to Italy in May 2007.

While I didn't have the chance to really get to know her well on this trip, I do remember being clearly impressed with her kindness and friendliness and wowed by her amazing smile. She came in as the companion of Lyle and jumped right in and took care of us all like family.

In June of 2014 Odyssey Chorale went on another tour, this time to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. This time Wendy and her daughets Mackenzie and Madison all joined the choir so we knew them better thanks to months of rehearsals.

Some time after our trip, Wendy sent me a message on facebook, out of the blue, that just showed me what a gracious and wonderful woman she was.


She said "Melissa Dalton Bishop -- you are a class act and I love you...not just your beautiful voice but your entire person. I appreciate your note to McK. Throughout our trip, I observed you just being fantastic. Funny, normal, NOT fussy...just a joy. Almost no one knew that my Dad's funeral was 2 days before we left so I suppose I was extra introspective. People like you just make life better wherever you go..."

It was so meaningful to me that she would take the time to write to me and I made a note to try to be more like her and maybe someday do something similar - just compliment someone out of the blue.

Well, in August we heard on Facebook that she had a cancerous brain tumor. She was having surgery and was hoping to be able to remove the tumor and recover. However, it didn't go as planned and after her successful tumor removal, Wendy never recovered her ability to walk or speak and eventually, cancer took her life in December leaving a beautiful, darling family behind.

Lyle reached out to me and Sarah and Katie and asked if we would sing with a choir of his former choir members at the funeral. Katie was unable to go but Sarah and I joined with Sally and Georgia and about 100 other people to sing "Alleluia" arranged by Mac Wilberg. With about an hour before the funeral to rehearse with Roslyn Hall, we did a lovely job I feel, in singing for Lyle and Wendy and Kenzie and Missy in singing their mom to Heaven. It was such a lovely service and the speakers, including Madison, did such a tremendous job in making me wish that I had known Wendy more. She was an amazing woman who made time for everyone around her and touched so many lives between choir people, and her students at BYU Law where she was Dean of Students.

I always say I love funerals. While they are tearful and sad, there is also such a celebration of the goodness in people and I always leave wanting so desperately to be a better person. This was no exception and it was an honor to be able to join my voice with others to thank Lyle for his many, many years of service and teaching and also to thank Wendy for her gracious influence on me.