Yeargan says her message frames are her favorite project , but she also uses the thousands of shells she has collected to craft wreaths , jewelry , keychains , barrettes and other items .
When Covid-19 hit , however , she branched out . Unable to volunteer because of both her age and the early “ Stay Home ” orders , Yeargan searched for other ways to assist those on the front lines . “ So I thought about my own past , how much the Serenity Prayer and two verses of the 23rd Psalms meant to me ,” she says . “ So I got online and Googled ( Covid ) hotbeds and counties all over the country .” Over the next year , Yeargan sorted through her containers of shells , carefully gluing them onto the tops and corners of 5X7 picture frames and then placing a special message inside each . “ I chose , ‘ He restoreth my soul ,’” she says , reading a passage from the 23rd Psalms . “‘ Yea , though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death , I will fear no evil : for thou art with me .’” Yeargan kept track of her shipments — each hospital received three frames and a letter of explanation — inside a special notebook . “ Queens , N . Y ., is how I started ,” she says , explaining she felt compelled to send a gift after watching a news piece about the early surge in New York City . “ I just wanted people in the medical field to know that they weren ’ t forgotten and that we cared about them ,” she says , pausing to wipe tears from her eyes . “ They put their lives on the line and they still are and so they just needed to be thanked .” Hospitals in every state , as well as the local police and fire departments , have received Yeargan ’ s tokens of appreciation . “ In one year , I mailed out 500 frames ,” she says . “ I think it was 163 different hospitals based on how bad the Covid surge was .” In the letters included with the frames , Yeargan suggested the words of encouragement be displayed in a common area to reach as many staff members as possible . And though she can only hope that the words are providing comfort in each location , she received responses from 25 hospitals across the country . “ This one is my favorite , from NYC Health Hospitals Elmhurst ,” she says , of a card she keeps protected in a scrapbook . “ Thanks for being so thoughtful and kind and thinking of us ,” one hospital employee wrote on the card that was signed by many . “ Really appreciate it . Please stay safe .”
• • • When vaccines became available and Yeargan sent her 500th frame in the spring of 2021 , she decided to pause what she refers to as the “ 23rd Psalms project .” But she ’ s prepared to resume her hospital research and mailing this winter , “ if it ( Covid ) starts to be a bear in certain places like it has been .” In August , she won second place in the State Fair of West Virginia ’ s wreath competition . Like with so many other things she ’ s made , she gifted the 30-inch-wide wreath to the Raleigh County Public Library . “ I wanted it to be somewhere where others might enjoy looking at it ,” she says . She ’ s also returned to the Serenity Prayer , which she gives to both friends and strangers . And though she ’ s still surrounded by thousands of shells , she ’ s ready to collect more and hopes to return soon to her beloved Sanibel Island . “ It ’ s like being in church ,” she says of how she feels standing on the shore , looking out at the water and down at the shells of the creatures that have called it home . “ I don ’ t know . It ’ s almost holy if I can say that . “ It ’ s where you know you didn ’ t create this ,” she continues . “ Man is little . We didn ’ t make this . We didn ’ t create this beauty and it kind of puts me in my place , you know ? “ It keeps me humble .”
36 ❖ SOUTH ❖ JANUARY - FEBRUARY ' 22