For those who knew Barbara Machado, they would expect an account of her life to reflect the unique and extraordinary woman that she was. To that end, her obituary is not going to be filled with dates and places, certificates and honors, although every column inch could be filled with such accomplishments and professional achievements. There will be no recounting of her “Linked-In” resume—which was impressive—but instead a brief journey through her “Linked-With” life.

 

For Barbara, who said, “dreaming is good, but doing is better” and whose outlook was that every day was “the best day ever,” life’s joy and purpose was not comprised of accomplishments but of people. She gathered people to her in every sphere and in every season of her life. They were drawn to her by her genuine interest in them, her wondrous delight in both learning and teaching, and by her rare capacity to both dream AND do.

 

Barbara was the youngest of four children born to Sally and Al Jackson. Growing up as a child of the Depression on a farm in Worthington, Ohio, she demonstrated at an early age a relentless commitment to family and an astounding capacity for hard work.  She augmented her remarkable gifts and abilities with education, always reaching beyond her own personal dreams and ambitions to embrace those of others who journeyed with her.

 

As a young graduate of Willamette University, Barbara lived in Torrance, California with her family, working in support of post-war aircraft production with Douglas Aircraft. The Jackson family loved a good card game, especially bridge. One evening, Barbara was handed her mother’s bridge hand, and found herself gazing into the steel-blue eyes of George Machado, a dashing Army veteran nine years her senior. Her mother’s strategic move had its intended effect: Barbara was completely and thoroughly head over heels for this handsome mathematician. They married on June 24, 1955.

 

Barbara—now joined with her beloved George in her life’s journey of dreaming and doing—continued to collect friends as treasures as they began life together. In 1962, Barbara and George moved their family of three young children from Torrance to “the country” in Orange County. There they teamed up with a cadre of like-minded friends to become the vision and driving force behind the incorporation of Yorba Linda.  George applied his brilliant engineering mind to draft the new city’s general plan for development.  His subsequent election to city council and the mayor’s office secured Yorba Linda’s becoming a beautifully-blended rural and urban oasis in the midst of the concrete sprawl of Southern California

 

In 1972, the word “cancer” appeared on the pages of Barbara and George’s love story, staining every page for four years as they journeyed together through what was then the uncharted territory of diagnosis and treatment for lymphosarcoma. When George succumbed to cancer in 1976, Barbara found herself a widow at 42 with three teenage children.

 

In the years immediately following his death, Barbara, by her own account, struggled to find the good in every day, let alone, the “best.” But as she navigated through her grief, she continued to draw others in as learned to dream and to do without George. She provided for her family both by wisely stewarding George’s estate and by excelling in her work, rising to the position of Public Relations Director at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. She also continued to serve in various spheres during this time: in public service in Yorba Linda on the planning commission, in caring for her aging parents, and in stewarding her own journey through suffering by walking beside others on the same path.

 

Barbara never remarried, because—as she would often say when asked about the possibility—“You can’t reheat a soufflé.”

 

In the early 80s Barbara left California for new horizons. With her parents’ passing and her grown children pursuing their own dreaming and doing, she moved to Colorado to work with a healthcare consulting firm. She traveled frequently with the new position, which kindled again her delight in learning and adventure. In her 50s and 60s, she would make many more moves and take various positions, flourishing and excelling in each one. As always, she continued to collect new possessions along the way, treasuring not things but people. She was devotedly intentional in maintaining her relationships across the miles through deliberate communication via letters and then emails, continuing in her mother Sally’s tradition of a periodic “family letter” to keep hearts connected.

 

The generations of the Jackson family became even more closely knit together when Barbara and her brother Bill purchased a home together in Los Osos, California. The two Jackson siblings now collected treasure together: first and foremost in their role as grandparents, which they both embraced and cherished, but also with their involvement in their new community. Again Barbara—now with brother Bill—joined a cadre of like-minded people, and worked tirelessly with them to create another oasis, the Elfin Forest. This band of dreamers and doers saved a winsome and magical portion of the California’s central coast from being developed into condominums; it is now part of the California State Parks.

 

Finally retiring from full-time employment at 70, Barbara began to intentionally travel the world, hiking and singing and exploring her way through six continents. She generously took family, friends and each of her eight grandchildren on adventures with her over the course of next decade. She gathered new treasures of people with each trip, laughing over her shoulder as she left on her next adventure, “Don’t expect a dime from me! I’m spending it all on making memories.”

 

In her last years, Barbara’s story went in a direction she would not have authored. This amazing, competent, independent woman—who hiked the Inca Trail at the age of 68—did not age as she would have liked. But as her mind and body weakened and her ability to dream and to do diminished, she still collected treasures of people, even to her last days. They were drawn to her as they always had been, by her genuine interest in them, the relentless songs that flowed from her thankful and kind heart, and her ability to find in every day something to it make it the “best day ever.”

 

One of Barbara’s favorite portions of Scripture in the Bible was Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, which states: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every event under heaven. There is a time to give birth and a time to die.” In the months before her death, she expressed hope in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him alone as she faced death and eternity. She clearly understood and believed that He alone could atone for the many ways she had missed God’s mark in her life. The day before she died she said was at peace with dying, stating that she was ready to go to the home Christ had prepared for her.

 

Barbara Machado leaves behind a legacy of priceless treasure: a legacy of people, of lives whom she has inspired to “dream and to do,” and to make every day “the best day ever.”

 

Her children Mike and Patty Machado, Doug and Ginger Machado, and John and Carrie (Machado) Foldberg extend an open invitation to all of Barbara’s treasures to join us Saturday, August 4 at 11:00 a.m. at the amphitheater in Del Mar Park in Morro Bay, CA. We will gather to remember and celebrate Barbara Machado’s life and then share a light lunch together. For those unable to attend in person, we are planning to do a Facebook live event. For more information, please see the family website at www.machadofam.com.

 

For those who would like to honor Barbara by joining in her dreaming and doing financially, her family suggests either of two organizations she heartily supported: SWAP (Elfin Forest), P.O. Box 6442, Los Osos, CA 93412; or the Huntington Lake Volunteer Fire Department (HLVFD), 125 E. Barstow Avenue, Suite 109, Fresno, CA 93710