On March 11, 2020, we were sent home. A coworker developed COVID. Suddenly, I was alone and homebound. I’d raised a family, but was now an empty nester; blessed with many friends, but I couldn’t visit them. A social “butterfly” usually out five nights a week, now isolated. No writers group, political group, or women’s group. No brunch on Seasons 52’s patio … depressing.
Then I got the email: A network, Stitch (stitch.net), had formed in Australia, but it was available to members in England, Canada, and the U.S. I was intrigued.
As a member of Stitch, for a modest cost, you can join, via Zoom, live dance classes, photography workshops, philosophy discussions, guitar jamming, and more. There are fun activities — word games, happy hours, and chats — all live and in real-time.
I realized they lacked a women’s group. I’ve run women’s groups. Andrew Dowling, who runs Stitch, told me, “Go for it.” I now have 192 women across the globe.
Facilitators aren’t salaried, so dues are inexpensive.
Stitch is open to anyone over 50. I love the diversity: white, black, Asian, Latino. Divorced, married, straight, gay. I’ve made friends with people from California and from London.
Stitch offset the isolation felt during the pandemic. Even as we return to living as we did before COVID, I encourage membership in Stitch.
Dowling, Stitch’s founder, has a background in socialization. “I founded Stitch after researching the importance of social connections,” he says. “If you are lonely, you have 45% higher chance of dying in the next 12 months than someone with good social connections and 64% higher chance of developing dementia.” The Surgeon General ranks loneliness as negative a health impact as smoking.
As we age, we face a challenge to sustain social connections.
Stitch enables its members to interact live with others in varied activities. I did a virtual train ride across America, played word games with people in Sydney, and joined a book club in Coventry, U.K. There are many options — from dance, to fishing, to knitting, to vintage radio. Within the sessions are opportunities to form new friendships.
Stitch has members in 85 countries, and it offers more and more live meetings locally as well as virtually. South Florida members had a luncheon recently in Broward.
Stitch offers a wonderful opportunity to make new friends, expand knowledge, and share laughter. I encourage anyone over 50 to join. During the pandemic it was a gift. It still is.