Jody Cefola is a sewing volunteer for the WakeMed Cary Hospital Sew Much Love program. She is passionate about crafting handmade items, which helps her cope with her heartbreak as a grieving widow and friend.

Quoting Maya Angelou, Jody shares, “People will forget what you said and forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

A Generational Legacy

Jody’s mother, Marge, fueled her joy for crafting during her formative years. Jody observed her mom regularly keeping her hands busy after dinner, doing embroidery, knitting or sewing. Years later, Jody became intrigued when a local quilter taught her mother how to finish tops by hand quilting.

The family became a crafting team. Marge did the sewing and hand quilting. Jody selected patterns and colors. Jody’s dad, an engineer, carefully cut and marked the fabric for the quilting pattern.

Eventually, Jody took a chance and made a small wall quilt for herself. This first accomplishment stirred her love for the craft, and she began making seasonal quilts.

A Joy Shared with a New Friend

Before long, Jody began crafting with a friend. After all, "a good friend, like an old quilt, is a treasure and a comfort." Jody met Lynn at work. Lynn became Jody’s mentor, and the relationship blossomed into a treasured friendship when Lynn served as the honorary attendant for Jody’s wedding.

The arrival of her stepchildren soon followed the wedding, and Jody began making quilts, blanket bears, table runners and more for them.

She embodied one of her mother’s favorite sayings: “A joy shared is a joy made double.”

Lynn was by Jody and her mom’s side for each of these cherished experiences, connecting weekly.

A Connected Friendship Through the Years

There isn’t a craft that Lynn has not conquered, including cake decorating, folk art painting and quilting. She also loves silk embroidery and would typically work on five stitching projects simultaneously. Lynn has a unique ability to select colors. As such, she’s served as the cherished color coordinator for Jody’s family for three decades.

After Jody lost her husband to cancer, Lynn trekked to her house to select colors to finish a baby quilt for the upcoming birth of Jody’s grandson. Lynn knew the best grief therapy was to do something she loved for someone she loved.

A Gift From the Fabric Fairy

After Jody moved to North Carolina a few years ago, Jody noticed Lynn struggling when she couldn’t say a particular word during their phone calls. When Jody supplied it, Lynn continued her train of thought. Over time, Lynn had difficulty with more words. By the end of the summer, Lynn’s family shared her dementia diagnosis.

As her family evaluated care options, Lynn determined the outcome for her craft supplies. She and Jody sorted through a lifetime of incredible fabric stashes. Hours later, they narrowed the prints and colors to those that best reflected Jody’s style — a mere twenty bins or approximately 1,000 yards of fabric!

Love Spread Through Volunteerism

Jody could never make enough quilts for family and friends with the fabric she received. Knowing Lynn had contributed to guild projects by making baby quilts or knitting caps for premature babies, Jody was inspired to do the same to honor her friend’s gift.

October 2023, Jody was accepted as an individual sewing volunteer at WakeMed. The first quilt she donated reflected Jody’s love of teddy bears, and it was made in Lynn’s favorite color: purple.

"A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails." (author unknown)

A Bond Held Together Through Crafting

As Lynn’s dementia progressed, it impaired her ability to speak. Jody worried that Lynn could not comprehend their weekly conversations. Jody realized she was experiencing anticipatory grief but wasn’t ready to accept the loss of her friend. There was a spark of hope as Jody shared stories or memories, and Lynn laughed at the appropriate times. Yet, while Lynn could understand speech, she was unable to participate in two-way communication.

Jody took quilt patterns and fabric to revive her coordination role on her next in-person visit. Lynn quickly responded with “yes” or “no” to a potential baby quilt pattern. Encouraged, Jody pulled out a stack of fabrics for the first quilt. Lynn quietly picked up one piece after another, decided and placed the fabric in one of two piles. She moved a few between piles until she smiled and patted one pile. From decades of working together, Jody heard what Lynn could not say:” too dark, too gold or not bright enough.”

Comforted by a Shared Passion

Last December, Jody donated her second quilt — the first done in collaboration with Lynn. Of course, it is another bear quilt. Lynn changed Jody’s plans to make it monochromatic in green, telling her it needed some pop with orange, gold and, of course, purple.

Lynn’s dementia is progressing, so their time together is precious. Lynn has selected patterns and colors for Jody’s next six neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) quilts — an invaluable gift.

Traditionally, quilters attach labels on their quilts to let the person receiving it know by whom it was made as well as to share a favorite quote. While Jody understands that hospital policy precludes labeling individual handmade items, she knows each quilt has a hidden label. It isn’t about who made it but how Jody — and other volunteers — want the family to feel.

"The best kind of sleep beneath heaven above is under a quilt, handmade with love." (author unknown)

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About WakeMed Volunteer Services

The contributions of handmade blankets, huggables, lap robes, dolls, preemie hats, booties, surgical caps, etc., brighten the lives of our patients and their families.

Jennifer Gibbs, WakeMed Volunteer Development Specialist, shares, “Premature babies are delivered monthly at WakeMed Cary Hospital. Creating incubator quilts is an easy and fun way to help our local community hospital.”

Handmade quilts help keep the babies’ isolettes dark to mimic the uterine environment. Quilts also help muffle sound to protect babies’ ears. Visiting parents appreciate the welcoming environment that the quilts provide.

Gibbs adds, “Our volunteer sewing program is essential, not only to our hospital but also to our community. Hundreds of volunteers, like Jody, create handmade items and work in the background. They dedicate their time and talent to making items that comfort our patients.”

Our 2023 Community Crafters Were Busy

• 21,939 Sewing Program handmade items were donated to patients.
• Handmade items were sewn, crotcheted and knitted.
• Items included adult, children and baby blankets; incubator quilts and memory quilts; baby hats and burp cloths; fidget sleeves and busy aprons; pillows; huggables (sewn/stuffed animals); chemo hats; knitted knockers ;port pads; cards; meditation bracelets; and more.
• 545 volunteers accumulated 150,000 volunteer hours.

Are you interested in becoming a sewing volunteer? WakeMed is always glad to see folks in the community willing to share their time and talents with patients and staff. Apply to be a volunteer.

About WakeMed NICU

Not all babies come into the world the same way. Some require physicians and nurses who specialize in high-risk obstetric care, an expert team of maternal fetal medicine specialists and the clinical expertise, vast experience and technological resources available in the neonatal nursery or intensive care.

At WakeMed, we are proud to offer high level neonatal expertise.

What makes us special:

• Three neonatal nurseries, including:
  
  • Raleigh Campus Level IV Regional NICU
  • Cary Hospital NICU
  • North Hospital Level II Special Care Nursery