On August 13, 2021, Mary, a nurse at Hospice of the Western Reserve, called St. Noel Parish. After our initial greeting, Mary asked me to consider a unique request; could someone in the prayer shawl ministry duplicate a large afghan belonging to one of the hospice patients. “You see,” Mary said, “the woman has two granddaughters and wants to give them each an afghan before she dies.”

I contacted Joanne Tadych, the head of our Prayer Shawl Ministry, hoping that she or someone in the group might take on this task. Not surprisingly, Joanne stepped forward herself feeling “called to take on the project because of such an immediate need.” She certainly had the resume for the job having been involved in needlework ministries for the last 20 years at both St. Bede and St. Noel parish. Equally important, Joanne knew she could get it done and committed to get started right away.

After an initial meeting with the patient (Joanne did not even know her name at this point) to view the afghan and a trip to the yarn store with her husband, Russell, Joanne put her talents to work.  Within three weeks, Joanne completed a beautiful, duplicate afghan!  On Tuesday, September 7, 2021, accompanied by Russell, Joanne delivered the afghan to Hospice and was able to spend some time with her new friend, Betty.  

Later, Joanne reflected that, even though she did not know Betty’s name until she & Russell delivered the afghan, “all along as I crocheted, I prayed for her and felt blessed that I could fulfill her wish.  In all the items I make for these ministries, I never knew who they went to, until this afghan gift.  Her joy was a gift to me.”