"Whenever I visited her, she always had it wrapped around her," said Crowley. She said that the woman repeatedly expressed comfort knowing "strangers were praying for her."
Crowley petitioned the hospital as well as senior and retirement centers for volunteer crafters. About 50 women signed up.
"We tell patients that someone in the community made it for them with hands and hearts joined together in prayer," said Crowley. "The funny thing is about 25 years ago I dabbled a little in crochet, and when I read about the ministry ... I began working on a prayer shawl. But it takes time to finish them."
Mary Jane Cheeks of Westminster is completing her first shawl, resuming a crocheting hobby after a 20-year absence.
"They're supposed to be 2 feet wide and 60 inches long, which is long enough to cover the back," said Cheeks. She added that the process of praying for the anonymous recipient has been beneficial to her as well.
"I say some prayers from my religion; I'm Catholic," she said. "But it's not just religious thinking; sometimes you wish the person well like you would someone you know. I meditate and in a way it takes stress away from me, and I hope that in turn that what I'm doing will help someone."
For Haughee, the ministry has come full circle. She once crafted prayer shawls for adult patients and blankets for infants at hospitals while serving at Severna Park United Methodist Church.
"I always try to do something for somebody, and I found out that there was such a ministry," said Haughee. To finally be the recipient of a shawl, she said, "puts a crowning moment on everything I've been through. This is what life is about; it's about giving. When you do receive back it just makes that so much greater."
