Ramona Woman Crafts Blankets for Veterans
by Maria Connor

Esther Aguilera is shown with a few of the wheelchair lap blankets she crochets. Photo by Ken Dower

With her ever-present ball of yarn and crochet hook, Ramona resident Esther Aguilera looks like the typical grandmother handcrafting a soft blanket, but instead of a pink or blue afghan to welcome a new grandbaby, she makes wheelchair lap blankets to warm the body and soul of local veterans.

For almost 50 years, Aguilera has been a member of the Ladies Auxiliary VFW, stitching blankets for American veterans.

"I started when I belonged to Post 1944," she said. "I've just been making them for years and years and years."

Aguilera's mother was a seamstress and an active Red Cross volunteer during World War II. As soon as she was old enough to tag along, Esther was kept busy wrapping bandages while the older women knitted hats and scarves for the boys overseas.

"She was very into helping. I think that's where I got it," Aguilera said. "It was just something we did."

Later, her mother taught her how to knit and crochet. When Aguilera joined the Ladies Auxiliary VFW in the late 1950s, one of the most in demand items was wheelchair lap blankets for the boys coming home with no legs. She started crocheting blankets then and has not stopped since.

It is unlikely to find Aguilera without her yarn and crochet hook. She starts most mornings with an hour of crocheting, later picking up a blanket to work on while watching television or visiting with family. It takes about a week to complete one afghan.

Aguilera's blankets have covered the laps of veterans from the Korean War to those from the war with Iraq, and they have been distributed in VA facilities throughout Southern California. She estimates the number of completed blankets to be in the hundreds.

"I met her four or five years ago when I was auxiliary president," said Marla Smith, senior vice president of Ramona Ladies Auxiliary VFW, Post 3783. "She started coming in to our meetings, and she told me that she had done lap blankets for Brentwood (Veterans Administration Hospital)."

Smith asked the members of the organization to support Aguilera by supplying her with yarn. Red, white and blue is the favorite color combination, although she'll use any color that is donated.

"It's a labor of love for her," Smith said. "It gives her a sense of purpose and a feeling of accomplishment. Each one takes her 20 to 40 hours."

Every few weeks, Aguilera brings in another batch of lap blankets. The Auxiliary VFW gets them distributed to Balboa Naval Medical Center, the La Jolla VA Medical Center and the veterans' home in Chula Vista. Extra-long blankets go to the patients with spinal cord injuries.

"The social workers on the spinal cord unit at the VA are very appreciative," Smith said, adding that hospital officials make a point of getting blankets to kids without families or visitors, those who need a pick-me-up.

Aguilera has never met the veterans who receive her blankets. She said it would be too painful, especially seeing the mangled young kids from Iraq.

"Some veterans have asked to meet the lady who sends the blankets, but I just can't bring myself to go to the hospital," she said.

A retired hospital administrator, Aguilera, a widow, moved to Ramona six years ago. She has five children, 15 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren with one more on the way. She's crocheted blankets for every single one of them, as well as numerous friends and acquaintances.

In addition to her work with the Auxiliary VFW, she donates time at the Ramona Food and Clothes Closet.

"I think if everyone did a little something to make a difference, it would be a better world," Aguilera said.