PIKESVILLE, Md. — One by one, Sandie Nagel reads off the names on a large quilt, recalling facts about each of their lives.
"Sharon was a caregiver to families and ended up passing from COVID..."
"Russell Livingston, his panel tells it all. He [was] a sports fan..."
Nagel tells their stories as if she personally knew each person, yet the only one on this quilt who she knew well is her friend Susan Mazer.
"She loved to laugh and we had lots of laughs."
Mazer died of COVID-19 last year. Her death left a big hole in Nagel's heart and inspired her to find a way to honor Mazer and all who have been impacted by this virus.
"Many people in the beginning died in hospitals alone and families didn’t get to say a fitting farewell," she said. "I created the quilt so that people can physically say their goodbyes."
Nagel said she is modeling the National COVID-19 Quilt after the National AIDS Quilt from the late 1980's, which started following the AIDS epidemic. She wants to collect 1,920 panels from all 50 states, the same number on the original AIDS Quilt.
"The quilt is a living history. It’s a living history of the people."
The quilt is not just to remember those who died from COVID-19. It also honors survivors like Michael Green, who was among the first to be diagnosed with the virus in Maryland. It will also honor the essential workers of the pandemic.
As the panels come in, Nagel commits their stories to memory, determined to not let them because another number or statistic.
"People go to the quilt and they see their loved one, what they instinctively do is bend down and touch it. It’s like touching a grave marker," she said.
"It tells a story of someone who passed and this is their family’s memorial to them."
Nagel hopes to spread the quilt panels out on the National Mall in Washington D.C. this spring. For information on how to send a panel to be added to the quilt, click here.
