EAST LONGMEADOW - Emilea Gartell lost her grandmother to COVID-19 in April. 

"I was absolutely devastated and my faith was really shaken,” Gartell said. 

Gartrell felt a sense of loss after her grandmother’s passing. She was on Facebook and stumbled upon a virtual service from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in East Longmeadow. She said through that, she found a sense of comfort and hope she never thought she’d feel again. 

Father Peter Swarr, Rector at St. Mark's Episcopal Church East Longmeadow started virtual services back in March. The church has been able to expand and do night time prayers and services throughout the day. 

"It’s good to know the babbling i do over there and the prayers I do over there are actually meaningful and touch people in the midst of this pandemic,” said Fr. Swarr. 

Gartrell said her grandmother would always do whatever she could to help others. Gartrell wanted to do the same so she decided to pick up some beads and supplies. 

"I really like the ones where the light shines through,” she said. “The opalescent ones."

She used those beads to make bracelets in honor of her grandmother. Some have an angel charm on them too. 

"I just feel like sometimes with the pain life throws at you, you can turn it into something,” said Gartrell. 

That is why she decided she wanted to take money from these bracelets and donate it to the church.

"To know how much the church is helping other people, I wanted to pay that forward in the way they helped me,” said Gartrell. 

Swarr added how it’s great to see how people are able to find the positive in such ugly situations. 

"It’s good to be reminded that in the midst of that darkness, there is a light that shines and that light shows up in somebody like Emilea,” he said. 

With each handmade piece of jewelry Gartrell sells online, she says there is a piece of her grandmother’s memory. She calls the bracelets “small things with great love.”

"There’s a quote we can't all do great things but we can all do small things with great love and thats what I'm hoping to carry on with this project,” said Gartrell.