Our Stories - Life is Precious

Your Own Personal Blanket
Lisa Schmaltz

Jun, 2015

Lisa Schmaltz, ConnectIT, Lakeland Health, shared the following:

“When the Merlin and Carolyn Hanson Hospice Center was built in 2013, we at ConnectIT were given the opportunity to make afghans for patients staying at the center.  In October of that same year, my father was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer. On November 6, he was admitted as a patient with Hospice at Home.  On November 23, 2013, my father passed away.  

“I have personally seen how the blankets we make impact the families of patients. My father was given a blanket by Valencia, his aide, a week before he passed away.  My sister-in-law embraced that blanket as if it were a part of my father. I believe that her having that afghan has helped her through the grieving process. I continue to make blankets for the patients of the Hanson Hospice Center and their families. It is therapeutic for me and has helped me heal from the loss of my father.  

“Since 2013 the group at ConnectIT has made over 20 afghans.  The afghans are lovingly crafted by Marilee Roth, Jane Rush, Jeanne Sandmann, Connie Swartz, Vicky Harrington, Holly Schewe, Christina Willmeng, Leah Bowen, Merline Abraham, Cherie File and myself.”