“In 1988, our family was on vacation at Townshend Cottages and our children (then 6 and 8) were playing catch when our daughter misjudged a fly-ball and it came down on her eye. We headed to Grace Cottage Hospital (at that time a house), and were immediately greeted by a very nice woman. Dr. Shafer came through a door and basically scooped our little girl up into his arms to comfort her. After he x-rayed her, Dr. Shafer stayed with us until he was sure that all was fine.
It was such a calming experience for us and left such an impression that we have continued to support Grace Cottage by leaving a donation every year when we pass through Townshend. The unbelievable thing is, every time after we do that, we receive a wonderful thank you note. For the amount of our donation, bigger hospitals would never even bother. This summer, when we stopped to meet the author of these notes, she took us for a quick visit to Dr. Shafer, in almost the exact same place in the building that we were 27 years ago! We assured Dr. Shafer that, as paperwork seems to take over purpose and passion for the job, his way of caring matters to many, many people over many, many years.
We plan to continue supporting all the wonderful employees at Grace Cottage, in hopes that they can continue their good work for many years to come.”
Peg & Dan Arguimbau, Sharon, MA
