Our daughter, Madison Rose Duren, affectionately known as Madi, brought so much love and joy into our lives. This is a little of the life we were blessed to share with her.
While she was still in the womb, we prayed for a child after God's own heart. Interestingly, Madi was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart condition that required open-heart surgery when she was eight months old.
From an early age, Madi loved singing, dancing, and performing. She was a voracious reader whose interests ranged from The Iliad and Diary of a Wimpy Kid to books on business and personal growth. Her books were filled with highlights, underlines, and annotations, and she often read them more than once.
Madi was also a gamer, an interest her dad encouraged. She loved Minecraft, Dungeons & Dragons, and Call of Duty.
She loved old sitcoms, but none could compare to Frasier.
She was particularly passionate about Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.
Madi had a passion for musicals, and for years, we would wake up to her alarm blaring “My Shot” from Hamilton.
Madi loved studying Scripture, and the story of Job deeply shaped her understanding of who God is. Her Bible was filled with highlights, underlines, handwritten reflections, and notes from sermons.
Madi cared about people. In her journals, we found prayer notes about people she held in her heart.
In middle school, Madi fell in love with acting and Shakespeare. Shakespeare became a revered name in our household.
After graduating from Hawaii Baptist Academy in 2022, she attended the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May 2026.
At SMU, Madi met the love of her life, Julian Harris, who was a year ahead of her in the theater program. They shared a passion for acting and performed together in several productions. In Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, Madi played the father, and Julian played his son. In Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, their roles were reversed, with Julian playing the father and Madi playing his child.
Their love grew beyond the stage. They were inseparable, sharing their everyday lives, laughter, and dreams for the future.
Our hearts are broken, our dreams unfinished, but our hope rests in the amazing love of Christ. Because of His promise, we know we will see our sweet Madi again.
You think she and Julian are putting on a show of their own up there in heaven? I'd like to think so.
We will receive friends during a visitation on Friday evening from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013.