During a moving presentation this month, the Doylestown Health Hospice Bereavement Program dedicated a unique remembrance quilt to honor a special book club and the deep friendships it created.
The group, known as The Tightly Bound Book Group, began in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic and the profound sense of isolation it brought followed. Connecting on Zoom, the members, all of whom had lost loved ones, discussed books but also much more.
“Over time, through our chosen books and with each other’s support, our stories tumbled out. We were strangers no more,” said club member JoyceAnn Heley, at the poignant March 14 program at Doylestown Hospital. “We embraced a name, ‘The Tightly Bound Book Group’ which recognized our preciously formed connections to one another.”
The “compassion” she found in the book club and in creating the quilt, said Gwyn Walton, drew her to become a bereavement volunteer, work she’s been doing for the past eight years.
The framed quilt that hangs near the hospital’s north lobby is made from the neckties and other fabrics that belonged to the loved ones the club members’ lost.
“This collaborative effort has been a labor of love since its beginning,” said Celia M.R. Blum, Doylestown Health Hospice Bereavement Coordinator. “The project and quilt speak to the power of community, the bonds of friendship and everlasting love.”
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