Friday Night Quilter's Evening By Clarissa....

Heading down the highway from Sydney to Canberra I reflected that this was my third Aussie Heroes Quilters thank you dinner. I was looking forward to the occasion. The former two had been excellent evenings, an opportunity to meet other quilters and also recipients and to have some fun in Canberra with an AHQ focus.

Having been abroad for the preceding four weeks I was a little out of the loop in terms of awareness of  who was speaking, who'd be at the dinner etc and I was hoping the curse of jet-lag wouldn't slow me down too much.  Well, what a weekend!  Although I didn't participate in all the activities I was kept busy with ...

1. Friday night - Quilters Evening.....

I was blown away with the presentation by Lt.Col. Tina McBride who spoke very frankly describing her 2017 deployment to Afghanistan.  She covered various issues enlightening us to the complications of 'latrine duty', her struggle with equipment dimensions - particularly pistol belts, the eat/shower/sleep dilemma,  personal isolation and the value of 'guardian angels' aka FPE.  Her pride in her work and in her colleagues was rightly abundant.  I was humbled by her gratitude diary which was simple yet honest and heart-wrenching. Fondly nick-named as Combat Barbie she received a special quilt on the night beautifully designed and sewn by Lynn Field. 

I together with others were included in her 'troops' on Saturday morning when we formed a 'work party' to set up the dining room. I'll  remember fondly her call to "Pause ladies" as we considered and formulated table configurations!

My admiration goes to speaker and mother Susie Chuck who spoke with raw emotion about the loss of her dear son, Ben,  killed in Afghanistan and her efforts supporting not-for-profit organisation  42for42.    Founded by ex-Army veterans, the 42 stands for the 41 soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan, with the 42nd representing the soldiers we have lost and continue to lose to suicide, and those who have returned with injuries and mental illness and  their mission of  building a memorial garden in Brisbane. A stunning quilt was presented to Susie as a token of our deep respect for her son and the shared sacrifice, another of our valued Australian sons (or daughters) taken too soon.

Thanks to the AHQ volunteers was expressed eloquently by the 18 year-old son of two recipients. Baily  warmly and whole-heartedly reflected on his perspective as a child  of deployed parents and the deep meaning of the receipt of a quilt.  We all wish him well in his endeavour to join the Air Force.

We were, in equal parts,  astonished, impressed, entertained and educated by Canberra quilter Beth Miller who took us through her quilting journey and concluded with her foray into the world of burlesque courtesy of her family who created a special gift for her. 

What a night! It came to a close with a 'call to arms' for a stand to at 8am the following morning to start the work of transforming the RMC Sergeant's Mess into a venue fit for our gala thank you dinner.  I hit the sack pretty quickly back at my hotel.

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