Stonewalk offers opportunity for healing and reflection

On April 12, the 2,000-pound Global Pandemics Stone begins its journey from the Quaker Meetinghouse in East Sandwich to Cape Cod Hospital, where it will rest near the front entrance for staff, visitor and community reflection. Everyone is invited to view it. This is the first time in history that a Stonewalk, the brainchild of the Peace Abbey Foundation, has included hospitals.

Psychiatrist Cassandra Hobgood, MD suggested that the Global Pandemics Stone travel from Cape Cod Hospital to Falmouth Hospital to honor and assist healthcare workers who have borne the brunt of COVID-19 for the past 25 months.

This event is an opportunity for staff and employees to hit pause, breathe, and reflect on what it means to try to heal from living through 25 months of fear, chaos and loss, Dr. Hobgood said. She is a member of the medical staff at Cape Cod Healthcare and sees patients at the Cape Cod Hospital Psychiatric Center in Hyannis.

The Global Pandemics Stone is, perhaps, an unlikely source of healing, but the cold, hard granite monument engraved with “a touchstone for humanity” is related to stones with a history of helping people in unique ways.

Peace Abbey Foundation founder and director Lewis Randa explained that its heaviness reminds us of the depth of suffering that has gone on worldwide due to COVID-19. The Global Pandemics Stone was cut from the same quarry in Vermont and engraved by the same individuals who carved the foundation’s first mobile memorial in 1994, the “Unknown Civilians Killed in War” stone. That stone has been helping people deal with grief and find emotional closure worldwide.

“The stone touches each person in so many ways and is named for COVID-19 and all pandemics that have brought havoc to humanity, Randa said. “Cape Cod is the first hospital it has ever gone to, and taking the stone to them is a gesture of gratitude. These folks will relate to it in a way no one else could.”

Randa defined a Stonewalk by explaining the first one, which took place in 1999. Volunteers pushed, pulled and accompanied the 2000-pound “Unknown Civilians” memorial stone on a specially designed carriage 500 miles from Sherborn, MA, to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC. The journey is a physical expression of grief, Randa said of the spiritual energy volunteers exert while moving the stone together. Stonewalks have taken place worldwide, including a 375-mile journey from Nagasaki to Hiroshima, Japan, which arrived on the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Hospital Involvement

Dr. Hobgood was at a planning meeting with Randa when she got the idea to take the Global Pandemics Stone to the hospitals. Traditionally, the mobile monuments are moved from church to church, although the effort is non-denominational, she explained.

“We’ve all been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic began,” she said. “It dawned on me that all my colleagues have been so burned out, not just with our own personal losses, but with feeling powerless over what’s happening to our patients. The pandemic has touched all levels and specialties in the healthcare community. We’re all grieving.”

She wanted to make sure everyone has the opportunity to come and grieve, noting the stone helps us address shared sorrow around COVID-19.

“The stone is a healing mechanism, and I hope other people find it as moving and as healing as I,” she said.

How does it work? “It centers me sometimes,” Dr. Hobgood said, adding that she was able to visit the stone at its winter home, the Quaker Meetinghouse.

“To me, the stone is a reminder to stay humble. I think the pandemic has gotten to the point that it is so big and has gone on for so long that it’s become abstract. It almost has become something that doesn’t even feel real anymore, especially if it’s been a while since it’s touched you directly. So being able to visit the stone and touch it reminds me: I still need to put on that mask, I still need to make sure I’m being careful. I still need to be mindful of the fact that another variant is going around and there were 80,000 new hospital admissions this past week. COVID is still happening.

“The stone also reminds me to let go of my frustration and anger, because that is not helping anyone, and it’s certainly not helping me. Being angry doesn’t help. The stone is a place where I can find peace with what’s going on so I can do my job and keep helping people.”

Observers of the walk can benefit from visiting the Global Pandemics Stone by thinking about the questions below, which Gail Melix wrote for the Stonewalk committee. Consider and focus on your silent, heartfelt answers to what Quakers call “queries.” People gathered around the stone are not expected to answer these queries aloud; they inspire introspection that the group believes can lead to healing.

Pandemics Stone Queries for Loss and Healing

• The pandemic has touched every part of our lives. What losses are you grieving?
• Are you feeling the need to release your pain? What helps you do this?
• How can we honor the memory of family and friends who have lost their lives to the pandemic?
• Are we who are gathered around The Stone being invited to deepen our collective well-being? If so, how can we best lift each other up?

Stonewalk Schedule:

Tuesday, April 12

Global Pandemics stone and carriage trucked from Quaker Meetinghouse in East Sandwich to Cape Cod Hospital and placed near the Mugar Tower entrance for visitor and staff reflection.

Thursday, April 14

Ceremony at Cape Cod Hospital at 10:00 a.m., then pulled by volunteers to Town Hall in Hyannis (1 mile) for official proclamation ceremony at 11:00 a.m. It will remain at Barnstable Town Hall until 3:00 p.m. for public viewing. Later that afternoon, it will be moved by flatbed truck for placement at Falmouth Hospital and placed overnight for public viewing.

Friday, April 15

A morning bereavement service will be held at 9:00 a.m. at Falmouth Hospital and left on view there until 11:00 a.m. It will then be pulled by volunteers to town center giving staff and community a chance to experience the Stonewalk. It will remain there for public viewing until 2:00 p.m., at which time it will be transported by flatbed truck to be garaged in Duxbury. There it will be prepped for its trip to New York City following NYC Marathon Route (26.2 miles). From Staten Island through all NYC boroughs to Central Park, where the first COVID field hospitals were established.