Peckish

Passage Quilts is an organization that gives quilts to terminally ill patients at one of our local hospitals. After the patient passes, the quilt is given to the family. I do not know if it's a national organization or just local. The one I've donated to is run through the pastoral program at the hospital. I attended a Saturday Sew-In for Passage Quilts a while back and took a bunch of pictures of the quilters, the quilts, and some of the thank-you notes. One of the ones I remember most vividly was a quilt made of pieced cat blocks that a woman had made while grieving for her husband. She donated the top. It was quilted, bound, and placed in the chapel's quilt room. A man came into the hospital and was offered his choice of a quilt. He declined at first. Later, in a conversation with a nurse, he expressed how much he missed his cat. She went to the chapel and brought him this quilt, make of cat blocks. He loved it.

One of the quilters I met that day told me that SHE had been the recipient of a Passage Quilt. Her brother had been ill, and after he passed, someone put the quilt in the dryer to warm it up. Then it was wrapped around her and she was told that it was a warm hug from him. She said she closed her eyes, the quilt still had her brother's scent on it and she could actually feel his hug.