You might thing crochet is a bit blasé, but for Danielle Marxer, who grew up in an Italian home where cooking, cleaning and crocheting were the three most important skills a woman could have, she”™s mastered all three ”“ and more.
Marxer may be more familiar to readers if they ever stopped by her grandparents”™ bar/restaurant in Cold Spring, George & Dee”™s. “In fact, when my grandpa George Giametti finally decided to retire after 50 years, there was a huge farewell party for him … we were an institution in town, where families and friends would gather … the kind of place you don”™t see too often these days.”
Marxer, whose parents both worked, grew up with her Sicilian grandparents, helping in the kitchen and learning age-old skills handed down by generations. “You might even say I grew up old,” laughed Marxer, whose easy style might make you picture a stay-at-home mom, not the director of admissions for Lutheran Care Center in Poughkeepsie, where she has worked for six years.
The first five years on the job, Marxer was a recreation therapist and says she got as much enjoyment out of working with seniors as they did interacting with her. “They may be old, but inside they”™re still 40. It”™s a tough choice to have to leave your home when you know you can no longer stay by yourself and there”™s no family to help. We become the patients”™ family … and it”™s easy to form attachments. They are like walking history books. You can really learn a lot from them if you”™re willing to take the time to listen.”
One of the ways Marxer has endeared herself to family, friends and those who she meets during the course of her work at the nursing home and through hospice is from the gifts she creates ”“ crocheted blankets, scarves and jackets. She also creates what she has dubbed a “memory quilt.”
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“I take the clothes of someone who has died and cut squares out of them and piece them together into a blanket. It isn”™t fancy, but I turn it into a memento for the surviving spouse. I have had many people tell me how much it means to them to have something like that to keep and to wrap themselves in. It makes me feel good knowing I can do that to make someone”™s burden a little lighter to carry.”
As if a full-time job, a 3-year-old daughter and crocheting for friends, seniors and hospice patients isn”™t enough, Marxer decided to get involved with the Dutchess County Chamber”™s new Women”™s Alliance, spurred on by her friend, Gloria Cukar.
“We sent out a questionnaire to about 200 of our women chamber members, asking them what three areas they felt they needed the most help in.” The top three picks: help with sales and marketing; balancing career with home life; and strategic planning. The Women”™s Alliance has 140 members and is growing.
“We held our first seminar at Marist in May and it was very well received. What”™s come out of it is that we are pairing off with other women who we can share skills with. If someone needs to decide how best to market their business, since I”™m in marketing, I would sit down and plan out some strategies with them; that”™s how it works. I think women supporting other women in business is key to our personal success. Women are really the only ones who can understand how difficult it can be to keep your marriage solid, give your children what they need and keep your career going in a positive direction. Right now, I”™m mentoring someone for the past six months, and it”™s been great for both of us. It helps me to strengthen my skills and help my ”˜buddy.”™”
And crochet? “That”™s relaxation time. I do most of it when it”™s cold out, because the material is heavy to work with and you have to have it on your lap … that can get pretty hard to do when it”™s a hot day. Today, there are machines that do it, so I feel very fortunate that I had two grandmothers who made sure I knew all the ”˜old world”™ skills. I”™m really fortunate to have grown up with them and to learn all they knew. I”™ll be able to pass it along to my own children.”
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