She truly was "A Friend to Man"

excerpt from House by the Side of the Road

by Sam Walter Foss

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,

Where the race of men go by--

The men who are good and the men who are bad,

As good and as bad as I.

I would not sit in the scorner's seat,

Or hurl the cynic's ban--

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,

And be a friend to man.

Nedra Evelyn Knudsen Nielson, age 92, died peacefully in her home on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. She was a much loved aunt, neighbor, wife and friend. She was preceeded in death by her husband, Dave, two and a half years ago. I am so glad they are finally together again.

Although Dave and Nedra never had children of their own they "adopted" many children throughout their life, including me. My mom's parents died before I was born and although I wouldn't have changed anything about my dad's parents, they weren't exactly the most doting grandparents a kid could have. That's were Nedra and Dave came in.

I didn't know Nedra and Dave until I was probably about 6 or 7 years old. One week in church we sat in the pew in front of them. Nedra admired my drawings all through sacrament meeting and kept telling me how wonderful they were. I decided to give her one and when I did so, she gave me a whole package of bubble gum! I was so excited to have my OWN package of bubble gum--my mom would never buy me gum! Every week after that, without fail, I would draw Nedra a picture and she'd give me a package of Bubble Yum bubble gum. After a few years I outgrew drawing pictures in church and instead I'd write her a note each week, but nonetheless I still got my package of bubble gum! The boys in the ward would all hassle me at church to give them a piece of my bubble gum each week. I guess maybe you could say my crushes on more than half the boys in the ward started with Nedra too. At least that's how I got their attention! :)

This tradition of the bubble gum exchange for notes and pictures continued on for many, many years. Nedra never missed the opportunity to give me presents for Christmas and my birthday. She is actually the one who started me on Jack Weyland books. She first gave me "Lean On Me." Reading Jack Weyland books is where my love for reading began and I could say that was in direct relation to Nedra. I received many gifts, treats, hugs and kisses from Nedra throughout the years. I would have to say that my most treasured gift from her I received about 5 years ago when I was going to BYU. She gave me a gold butterfly pendant and necklace. It is absolutely beautiful and means so much more to me because I know it belonged to her. Even when I went to China I still wrote notes to Nedra. Although I no longer received bubble gum in return, the notes I received back meant even more.

At Nedra's funeral, many sweet stories were told about her. The above poem was one of her favorites. One of the quotes from Nedra that I especially enjoyed was, "You can get away with anything if you say it with a smile." That definitely sounds like something Nedra would say, and I bet she did get away with anything when she'd show her sweet smile. There was another quote of Nedra's that was my favorite that was shared at the funeral. Upon giving a little life sketch of Nedra, her niece told of when sometimes life would get rough Nedra would say, "I'd run away, but there's no place that far." Isn't that so true? I definitely have had times in my life when I've felt that I wish I could run away, heck, I've even tried! But the reality of it is, there is no place that far. At least for now. Nedra knew this and continued to press forward through life's trials. She has finally found a place "that far" where she can be with Dave and with the Lord but I have no doubts that she is continuing on, pressing forward with her work in the next life.

It's been a tough year. I've been to 6 funerals in my life; 4 of them have been in 2009. Over the last 2 months I have lost two very important women in my life who have meant a lot to me. Nedra was 4'11" tall and my Grandma Virginia was only 5'2". Although they were very small women, they both made a very large impact on my life, and on the world as a whole. I am sad that neither one of these amazing women will ever get to know my little girl in this life but I am blessed to have known them for myself. I hope that I can live my life in such a way as to make them proud!

This is the only picture I have of myself with Dave and Nedra and I cherish it. It was at their 60th wedding anniversary in 2006. I hope Mike and I can emulate them in our everlasting and enduring love for eachother. They were an example to us all.