Stitching Journals Opens World to Bedridden Sister

After creating more than 500 unique journals in the last six years for relatives, friends,

and acquaintances, Rachel Venus stitches together a new journal at an even faster pace, one

everyday-and-a-half, due to an ever-growing demand. In doing so, she shares her love for others

and finds some relief from constant pain resulting from a deliberating illness.

Rachel, by nature, loves people and easily builds friendships. However, her illness has

restricted her travel and contact with others. Thus, her journals, as gifts, are for her a door to the

world. Indeed, she will gift a journal to someone for almost any occasion or no occasion at all.

The story of her journals began only a few years ago. Rachel has long done cross-

stitching and embroidery and then one day, she visited a local store that advertised stitchable

journals.

“I wondered if I could do one of those. And so, I bought several and the moment I began

putting them together, people were asking for them. I began using different colors, almost every

color imaginable, and each design was different. I don’t believe there are any two of these

journals which I’ve done that are alike unless people ask for an exact copy of one they’ve seen.

They are used for scrap books, for drawing books, and family history. My doctor uses them to

record treatments when he is away from his office. For someone like me, stuck in a bed, it makes

me feel as if a little piece of me has gone out to places I’ve never been to or will never get to. I

just love it, love it, love it. This work keeps me busy, and I find my pain is easier to accept when

my mind is focused on my work.”

Rachel has a disease called Lymphedema. “The swelling of my legs is simply out of

control. The lymphatic system in my body is not working right. Fluids move downward, but

don’t circulate upwards. The constant movement of fluids to the lower portion of my body, my

legs, causes a great deal of pain and means I can’t walk at all. So, it’s a challenging situation. I

first noticed it when my children were born when I had some unusual swelling at that time. I was

blessed in those days that the condition didn’t affect me too much.”

In fact, not until a year ago was she finally confined to her bed. A fun tradition has

evolved from Rachel being unable to attend church services. A member of the congregation

found out Rachel’s favorite animal is the Panda Bear. So, her friend found a stuffed Panda Bear,

named it Rachel, and began bringing it to church each week. This friend passed the stuffed bear

around to other members who would take the bear home each week and return it the following

week. “In this way, I was visiting with families and sometimes would join them on trips. I would

receive a text telling me I had just been to an amusement park, a restaurant, an historical site, or

some other place. This has been a wonderful way to get to know people and I really appreciate

what people are doing.”