by Bea Peterson
Marian Foster, 85, of Johnsonville made a commitment that she wanted to do something for others as a way to say thank you. She didn’t elaborate on why or for what. She has volunteered in the medical field for years so she wanted to do something in that related field. As the Hoosick Falls Health Center was the closest health care facility to her, she chose it as the recipient. In April she arrived at the Health Center with 17 hand crocheted lap robes, each about three feet wide by five feet long. She told Recreation Director Maureen Martinez that she would make one for every resident by Christmas. Since she had 17 made, she thought she would have to make just a few more. She was astounded when she learned there were 82 residents! Undeterred, she returned home and started to work. Then she was told she had been accepted in assisted living housing in Lansingburg. She put her fingers in high gear to finish up, and on September 24 she returned to the Center with the remaining 65, plus one, lap robes completed. Each of the 83 robes is a different color or design. “I would buy enough yarn at the beginning of each month to keep me going for at least two weeks. Then, if I could, I would buy more yarn to last to the end of the month,” she said.
Marian is no newcomer to challenges. When she was 51 she had a massive stroke. “They told me I wouldn’t walk or talk,” she said. It was two years before she was back to work and fit as could be. Just three years later her son was in an accident. He was in a coma for eight months as a result of severe head injuries. He has never made a complete recovery. Marian took care of him at home and nurtured him at the same time she was caring for her ailing husband, who died in 1985. For 17 years she cared for her son at home. Now he lives in a group residence, and he comes home to Marian every other weekend.
The lap robes will be distributed to Health Center residents at Christmas time. Marian will come back then. She wants to see their faces when they receive her gift.
