Grati-Tuesday 13th September 16

First a gratitude message from myself. 

Some time ago a group of Aussie Hero Friends were invited to attend RAAF Base Richmond for the day. Whist there we were presented with a Commanding Officer's Commendation from 1 Combat Communications Squadron.   Sadly it was badly damaged in the fire so I was absolutely delighted when Lisa K arrived at our sewing day in Penrith on Saturday with a new Commendation for me and a bonus challenge coin from 1CCS as well.   Big thanks to Darren C for arranging it for. They are both much appreciated. 

Hi Rae

I just received your beautiful quilt that you made for me, thank you very much I love it and it is on my bed as we speak. Thank you for taking the time to do something like this and supporting the army and deployed troops. Little things like this mean the world to us when we are over here and away from our family.

A little bit of information about me: I am 26 and have a wife who lives in Brisbane with our almost 2 year old son whose birthday is in September and my wife just gave birth to our daughter who is just 4 weeks old, I was lucky enough to make it home for the birth but could only spend 2 weeks at home before coming back here. Hopefully she doesn't grow to much while I am gone but the last 3 and a half months are going to feel like forever, I probably wont recognize her when I get home. My wife is a vet nurse so as you can expect we have 3 dogs at home 2 miniature dachshunds named Pepper and AJ and a staffy named Asher. This is my 9th year in the army and have no plans to get out in the near future as I love my job (normally).

Well I better get back to work, thank you so much for the quilt and all the little goodies that were just icing on the cake and make sure to tell your husband to catch all the fish that I am missing out on while im over here as I love to fish to and I will swing around and pick them up when I get home .

Thanks,

.....

Good afternoon Jean,

       Thank you so much for my laundry bag IT'S PERFECT!! the work that you and all members of hero quilts do is amazing.  It definitely puts a smile on your face when that package arrives.

You nailed it with the magazine, which I totally enjoyed (I hope your husband wasn't to upset about loosing his mag haha)

The cars are a great passion of mine, I currently own a 69 Camaro but let you husband know one of my favourite cars is the XA Coupe. My job in the RAAF is a Aircraft Mechanic which I enjoy immensely, the only problem is that someone else gets to enjoy what I fix. 

I am a father of four and also live on the NSW coast, about 5Hrs south of you at Soldiers Point (Just north of Newcastle)  which I love, its like paradise compared to growing up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne

Once again thank you very much Jean, I cant express my gratitude enough for the gift you have sent.

Cheers

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Kay,

 I had much pleasure in receiving my wonderful quilt last week. It is perfect. I am rapped.  The quality is so good, I am sure that my wife and I with daughters  will enjoy for a long time

I cant wait till my family see it and i cuddle up under the quilt with my girls.

  I am starting to struggle to the finish line with my last 30 days of my 6.5 months rotation, so to receive this magnificent gift has really boosted my spirits. Thank you.

All the best, and thank you again.

.....

Good Morning Bridget,

W O W !!!

Thank you so so so for my laundry bag. It's lovely! It's very pink just what I love. I'm a bit of a girly girl.

Also thank you for your letter. Sounds like you have a very gorgeous family.  

Thank you again and I can't wait to receive the quilt you are working on. I'm currently sleeping with the ugliest plain doona with no cover.

The laundry bags & quilts make us all very happy. You are very lovely people dong what you do.

Take care

 .....

Hi Su,

        I recently arrived in the Middle East as part of the ADF’s commitment to the area and picked up the laundry bag that you kindly made.

Thanks heaps for your time and effort making these; it means a great deal to us that we have the support of the Australian people. I just wanted to quickly reply to you to let you know that these things do make a difference for the deployed personnel (as your daughter can attest to) and that they are highly sort after here.

Thanks again

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Good afternoon Inge,

Just emailing to say thankyou for the quilt I received about a month an a half ago. I'm currently just heading back to Australia after a 6 month deployment to Afghanistan as an advisor at train advise assist command air, where we were working with the afghan Air Force on a daily basis to help develop a professional and sustainable Air Force into the future.

The quilt was lovely and definitely something  I will cherish from my time and a reminder of the 6 months in Afghanistan.

Thankyou for the time you spend making these to give us a little bit of home when we are away from home.

Kind Regards,

.....

Good Afternoon Sue, 

I would like to thank you personally for my quilt and laundry bag. We have been in the desert now for some time experiencing temperatures that could slow bake a lamb so mail is always good to receive as is a laundry bag ;). As the Detachment Commander I would like to also thank you and the team of fantastic supporters for the work you do, it is hard to put into words what the effect of receiving a quilt and/or laundry bag it has on the team's morale over here. I thank you all for your efforts. Once again thank you very much for your time and effort it does not get forgotten

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G’day Helen,

I received my Laundry Bag and your letter the other day, I cannot express my gratitude enough to you and your team in Australia.

Your efforts do not go unnoticed and are appreciated immensely. Whenever I am having a tough day or missing my family and Australia, looking at the colourful artwork always brings a smile to my face. It is an act of kindness that I will never forget and forever will appreciate.

Sometimes here we become insulated and having a reminder that someone is thinking about us is uplifting.

I particular enjoyed reading a little bit of your story, strange enough I actually think I got to see your poppy quilt last year whilst it was displayed in Melbourne. It made me think back to last year when all my friends stood and admired the hardwork and dedication of, at the time ‘the unknown people ‘that spent so much time and effort putting it all together.

It’s funny how much joy a simple gesture of a laundry bag brings to the current deployed members. I know we all walk around with them, showing off the creative and interesting designs we receive. They also get a lot of attention from our coalition partners who consistently ask how they can get their own whilst they express how lucky we are.

Again, personally I want to thank-you for your hard work and commitment, it may not always be said but I know personally it was one of the kindest things someone has ever done for me and for that I will always be truly grateful.

Kind regards,

.....

Hey Sue!

I've just received your stitched blanket you recently sent me!

You have no idea how beautiful this gift is and I can't thank you enough! The angry birds are incredible and now that it's going to be getting colder in the next few months I'll need it.

Gifts like these are amazing because this week I found out I'm actually going to be a father in 8 months to my beautiful girlfriend  How exciting is that! So this has topped off a very stressful and emotional week for me.

I can not thank you enough for your efforts from the cards, the chocolate, the blanket definitely!, the washing bag is also lovely as well!

I hope you get back to me, and I hope you have a wonderful day.

(Sorry I didn't send you a letter with writing, it's more personal that way but I am quite busy here and Internet is accessible) I was just too excited to tell you how much I appreciate you!

Continue to be lovely x

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Hi Pauline how are you? 

Thank you very much for the bag I love it is a great size does it job very well. Thank you again for taking the time to make the bag Pauline it is very nice of you.

( P.S the goodies and vegemite made everyone so envis of me i shared some of it)

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Till next time..... keep spreading the word and happy stitching!

Jan-Maree xxx