Briarwood Resident Dot Edgington Writes A Children’s Adventure Story
Dot Edgington is an American. She married an Englishman and lived in Great Britain for many years. Her four children were born in London. After a highly successful career as a Physical Therapist at Duke University and at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London, England, Dot Edgington returned to Worcester in 1966 with her husband and four children. She took a position as physical education teacher at Doherty Memorial High School where she taught for 16 years. She returned to physical therapy until in 1992 when Dot “retired” to work as a Fitness Instructor at Briarwood Continuing Care Retirement Community. Dot been a resident of Briarwood for three years.
Six years ago at age 79, Dot Edgington had a knee replacement and found she could no longer climb mountains. That was the turning point for Edgington, who decided to follow her passion of writing. “I timidly started to write and stuck my manuscripts at the bottom of my bureau,” says Edgington. “When I pulled them out for re-reading, I discovered that there is no critic harsher than the bottom bureau drawer.” However, there are some survivors. Dot‘s first book was published in 2011. A Gap in the Fence, about a child with Muscular Dystrophy, is one of them.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Dot now has written a second book, a children’s adventure story entitled A Mere Five Days. “One day, while I was walking with my family in the Midlands of England, I came across a plague village,” reminisced Dot. She was so impressed by the scene and its history that she turned it into a story for young readers. The setting is real, but the story of the three American kids who are visiting their uncle and aunt at Briarwood Farm, is fiction. “It’s only for a week,” their mother had said. “Surely you can behave yourselves for seven days.” Well…maybe…or maybe not. Edgington hopes that you will enjoy reading about their extraordinary escapades.
Briarwood is a non-profit community offering Independent Living cottages & apartments, Assisted Living Services, & Knollwood Nursing Center.