Rumble Strip

Forrest Foster Lays Karen to Rest

09.04.2023 - By Erica Heilman / Rumble Strip, Erica HeilmanPlay

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Forrest Foster is a dairy farmer in Hardwick, Vermont and a friend of mine. This past spring, on Memorial Day, Forrest’s partner, Karen Shaw, died after a long illness. They were together 43 years. The day after she died, Forrest built her coffin with his friends Steve and Butch, and a couple days later Karen was buried in a field behind the barn under a maple tree, with a few family and friends present.

As always with Forrest, I’m struck by the combination of pragmatism and love in everything he does. Burying Karen was no different.

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