Dear Trager friends,
It is my sad duty to let you know that Holly Chaplin died on November 4, 2019, in Key West.
She was 78 years old. Six years ago, Holly was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. Although she had done remarkably well for the last five years, she began to deteriorate very rapidly this past summer.
Every summer, Holly returned from Florida to her family home on Love Lane in Weston, where I would see her and her husband, Dick Dunbar (who died two years ago.) For the past two summers, I was with her at least once a week to give her a Trager session and share a meal. Her condition was very challenging by the end of October this year. I felt relieved that she was expeditiously released from her confusion and distress just a week after she flew back to her home in Key West.
Holly became a Trager Practitioner in 1985 and was a Tutor as well. She and Dick were generous with the spaces that they lived in, hosting trainings in Cambridge, MA, Weston, MA, and Key West, FL. These trainings were often residential as well, with participants sleeping wherever there was an extra bed or cot and pitching in to create festive meals in the evenings. Holly (along with Dan McGovern) took Betty Fuller under her wing sponsoring and hosting both a Trager Alternatives class and a Being With Betty class in Key West in the winter of 2001, so that those of us who made the journey could soak up the essence of Betty’s teachings (as well as Milton’s, of course) just before Betty was no longer able to teach due to the onset of dementia.
On October 24, 2002, Holly and Dick were in a head-on car accident outside of Key West. Dick only had minor cuts and bruises. Holly suffered multiple fractures in both legs, both knees, both feet, and an arm. After initial treatment in Miami, she was flown to Mass General Hospital in Boston. Over the course of two weeks, she had 10 operations.
Holly later wrote about her treatment and how central Trager was to her healing:
“Our beloved Trager Practitioner, Martin R Anderson was there when I arrived at Mass General. He worked on me nearly every day for eight weeks. I looked forward to his daily visits. My legs couldn’t tolerate touch, but his hook-up portrayed the essence of Milton’s work. After a treatment, I felt peaceful and usually fell asleep. Other Trager friends visited and worked on me. I felt the same peace. Also I felt supported and loved by the entire Trager community, receiving cards, prayers, phone calls and flowers. Loving support is so powerful in the healing process. I am blessed to be part of the Trager community.”
We were all blessed to have had Holly Chaplin in our Trager community. I am so sad at her leaving, but feel blessed to have had her in my life for so long.
In memory and with love,
Martin R Anderson