Purls and Prayers

Fair Meadows Retirement Community might as well be a country club for most of the retirees enjoying the pool, golf course, and book clubs. But for the caregivers whose family members reside upstairs in the special memory care unit, vacation is over.

Comforting these forgotten folks is exactly why the Woolgatherers group has formed. The members make prayer shawls to support those affected by the heartbreaking reality of not being recognized by a loved one—people like Sam Talbot, who has been barely existing since his wife moved into Memory Care.

Without her, his life has lost all color and meaning.

That’s something the Woolgatherers can’t bear to see. Flirtatious Jenny Alderman, cranky crocheter Edna O’Brian, kind Rose Harker, and the rest of the prayer shawl group weave him into their circle. Sam has no idea how he got tangled up with them, and he’s no good at knitting. But when a member talks him into taking up his wife’s old crochet hooks, he discovers that this one small gesture might just have the power to heal his life—or even save it.

“Wonderful, whimsical, thought-provoking, and spiritually inspiring.”—Cheri Swalwell, author of Adventure’s Invitation