Remembering Margaret Lamberton

Russ carried a package into me today that I was not expecting. It was from my cousin Rawlings. I opened the well-wrapped package with a white box and sky blue satin ribbon on it. Inside was a beautiful red silk scarf with light blue flowers and a note.

“My mother had quite a scarf collection and my father wanted me to share one with you.”

Rawling’s mother Margaret passed away earlier this year. She had been planning an 80th birthday party for her husband Harry. We had reservations to go to the celebration at their home in Blue Ridge Summit. Margaret called me the week before the party to discuss a breakfast she decided to add to the festivities. Since she didn’t drink coffee she wanted to talk about if she needed coffee at the breakfast.

I don’t drink coffee in the morning either, but quickly volunteered to bring the coffee as I was certain that others would want coffee. She was quite excited the family were all coming to honor Harry, the youngest of my father’s first cousins on their mothers’ side.

We were excited too since we had not seen many of these family members all together since my father’s funeral, and that was during Covid so plenty couldn’t make it.

Four days before the party we got a text that Margaret had a stroke. No party. We prayed for her recovery. She worked hard, but after a few months she passed away. Sadly we’re couldn’t make it to her funeral.

So this surprise gift is a reminder of the elegant lady we lost this year. There are only two left in my father’s generation of cousins, Harry and his older brother Ben who lives in England. They are the children of my grandmother’s sister Nancy, the youngest of the six Michie girls of Charlottesville.

My mother and Aunt Janie Leigh are the in-laws of that generation, part of the original members of the Michie in-law support group, a term which my husband Russ coined. He welcomes any new member who marries a family member with any Michie blood and explains why there is a support group. This, and he didn’t actually know my Grandmother or three of her six sisters. But the Michie traits are strong, so he was able to recognize the need for support.

Margaret Lamberton was a good member of the club. She always showed up at family events and was supportive. Her children, Harry Jr. and Rawlings are still two of the great Michie cousins, (which is a name no one carries on, but we all identify as.)

It was such a thoughtful gesture and a lot of work on Rawlings part, on behalf of her father. I will think of Margaret lovingly when I wear this scarf.