LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A trip to the grocery store means more to Celeste Tyner than just getting food. The plastic bags containing her groceries have become an important part of her passion project.
Tyner's inspiration is her son Charlie, who died in April 2020 from an accidental overdose of fentanyl.
"When we were cleaning out his van after he died, there was a plastic sleeping mat laid out in the back that he had been sleeping on," Tyner said.
Ever since her son's death, Tyner has been crocheting sleeping mats made out of plastic shopping bags. It takes 600 bags to make one six-foot mat.
"I pray over the mat as I am working on it that the person receiving it will find a sense of comfort and security with it and the knowledge that people do care," Tyner said.
Tyner said she picks a monthly theme for each of the two dozen mats she has created.
"I always post the inspiration for my theme on my Facebook page for friends and family to follow along each month, and often, they like to guess what it will be," Tyner said.
Indiana mom creates sleeping mats from grocery bags in son's memory
Tyner gives her plarn mats to the Lafayette Transitional Housing Center. They distribute them to Hoosiers who may be facing the very same challenges her son faced.
"I always tuck an envelope with a few dollars inside the mat and write '#fortheloveofcharlie3' on the outside, in memory of our son," Tyner said. "It is important to take care of each other in time of need because we never really know why someone is homeless," Tyner said. "And last, but certainly not least, to share about God's love, his grace and mercy gave my husband and I strength to literally live through hell here on Earth as we tried desperately to help our son for an entire decade in his addiction."
Tyner has a huge stockpile of plastic bags in every color for future plarn mats.
"I have a couple ladies in my neighborhood that leave them hanging on my mailbox or on my front porch," Tyner said.
Tyner has so many plastic bags, they overtook her guest room. So, Tyner moved the piles of plastic bags into the garage.
For Tyner, crocheting plarn mats provides a place for homeless Hoosiers to lay their head at night. One stitch at a time for others and for the love of Charlie.