Grati -Tuesday 15th February

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Hope you're week is treating you well. 

Nothing new to report on my end, except we have some beautiful letters to enjoy this afternoon.. So time to sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy the afternoon sun (hopefully)..

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Dear Ann,

Thank you so much for my wonderful quilt. It is absolutely spectacular and an amazing gesture. I appreciate deeply all the hard work you put in. The theme is spot on and I think my favourite part is the detailed embroidery.

I also really appreciated the letter you included as well.  My wife and I have two daughters and I see how much joy our parents get when they spend time together.

I chuckled when I read about your father saving his beer rations. I can tell you that he would be proud of our soldiers today, they must have taken lessons from the veterans because they are always getting up to good mischief. Perhaps its just our Aussie nature! I love hearing about connections to our veterans. Those of us currently serving have deep admiration for the Australian soldiers who came before us. We are incredibly proud of our heritage and strive to live up to the standards they set of courage, determination and mateship. I have been fortunate to have never had the experiences they did in New Guinea; but when I find things difficult, men like your father serve as great inspiration.

I am incredibly proud to be representing Australia. This country could be just as nice as our beautiful home. The people are doing their best and you would not believe how many smiling children we see.

Thank you again for the quilt. I'm touched by such a lovely gesture and it will have a special place in my house when I come home next year.

Kind regards 

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Hello Ruth,

I just want to say a big THANK YOU for the fantastic laundry bag that you made me. I haven't been well of late spending five weeks in hospital before Christmas and still recovering so the laundry bag was such a lovely surprise.

I joined the Army Reserves in 1980 to see if I would like the military. They Navy was my real choice but at the time you had to have full-time service to join in the Navy Reserves as a female. I was in the Artillery Corp (2/15 Fd Regt) until I joined the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) in 1983. In 1984, the WRANS joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). I trained as a Naval Supply Officer (these days known as a Maritime Logistics Officer) and I as one of the first six females to go to sea in a permanent position. I was the Deputy Supply Officer on HMAS Jervis Bay.

I had a wonderful career in the Navy undertaking many logistics and IT jobs around the country. I retired in 2009 having spent nearly 30 in the military. I support veterans wherever I can, currently as an Ambassador for Women's Veterans United & a member of Women's Veterans Networking Association.

I also love attending functions at my local RSL which has a great active group. 

I thank you again, for my laundry bag but thanks even more for your enthusiasm in supporting both serving members and veterans here in Australia and overseas. Support comes in all forms.

Cheers.

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Hello Heather,

It was so lovely to receive your letter with the quilt. The quilt is beautiful, it is more than what I had imagined in my vintage theme. The amount of detail and work is exceptional. I can see the love and creativity that you have poured into the quilt.

A little bit of background about myself, I worked as an emergency Nurse in the public sector before I joined the Army. Since then, I have had the opportunities in area that I never imagined. One of those was helping in an aged care in the crisis of COVID-19. 

Even though I am young, I cherish the stories of the people that walked before me. The vintage theme reminds me of my experience, the heritage and heartbreak that was felt within the walls. It also give me warmth and joy when I think of that experience as well as the memories of my grandparents. By biggest takeaway, from that experience is that I assisted in a time where I hopefully provided some solace and comfort, in their time of need. When I look at the quilt that is what I feel, so I cannot thank you enough. My goal is eventually have it framed and hung on the wall.

Wishing you a safe and happy 2022.

Kind Regards

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Dear Bronwyn,

My heart felt thanks for the beautiful turtle quilt and laundry bag. Words cannot express how much it means to me. I have been an avid turtle lover for many years - since a child and while I don't really know why. They have always been special to me. I have quite a collection at home - ornaments, stuffed toys etc.

Thank you for sharing a bit about your life and family with me. I do enjoy hearing about people and it's like meeting them through other means. 

If you will indulge me, I'd like to share a little about myself. I am a veteran of 32 years, having joined the Navy straight from school, through the Defence Academy. In ACT, I am Maritime Warfare Officer and have had the honour of 3 sea commands. I am currently posted to Northern Territory - my third posting here as Captain of patrol boats managing 14 patrol boats and 16 crews as well as head quarters.

 

I've had a wonderful career and everyday I am amazed at the level of wonderful women and men I have the privilege to serve with.

Much of my operational service has been to Operation Resolute conducting border protection duties. As a peacetime operation, it is often the forgotten operation which was why I was so excited for the opportunity to receive a quilt. Everyday of the year, for well over 20 years now have been on the line, protecting our maritime borders and sovereign integrity. So aside from the long and successful career, I am also a proud mother of adult children (aged 26 and 20) and grandmother of 2. It hasn't been easy with my career but they are both great kids (adults). So I guess I sort of got it right. It's my granddaughters 5th birthday soon, so party pies and cakes it has been!

Times are tough with the 'RONA' at the moment but hopefully we can all battle through.

Please accept my thanks to you personally and all the wonderful volunteers at AHQ. What you all do to support us is lovely and the kind gesture makes what we do have even more meaning.

Best wishes for 2022 and hopefully we may get to meet an AHQ dinner one day - when things settle down.

Warm Regards.

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Dear Clarissa,

Just a quick note to say I have received the laundry bag. It's phenomenal!

My goodness I am beyond words. Did you know I used to own pugs? The chaplaincy logo was a great touch. Really blown away.

I'll write more later.

Regards

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Hi Ma'am,

I just wanted to Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the beautiful quilt. The quilt is absolutely beautiful and I love it. How did you know that I love butterflies?

The quilt has comforted me through my surgery and recovery and I will treasure it forever. My prognosis is good and the cancer was not found in my lymph nodes. I will hopefully be returning to light duties next week. I hope that you are doing well.

Once again, thank you so much. I think you guys are the real heroes.

Kind Regards

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Hi Jan-Maree,

Today I was the lucky recipient of a totally unexpected honour, a quilt made by Helen and Pat.

Thank you so much for making this possible for me through your organisation. You have no idea how much this means to me.

I had previously heard of Aussie Heroes, as a lifelong friend received one during the last months of his life. He also served with 1RAR and died last year. It was his wife who actually requested this quilt for me.

Such a wonderful, humbling surprise.

My wife is a quilter, so I understand how much work goes into any quilt.

Not too keen on the 'hero' bit, but it's a real honour to be shown appreciation in this way. I shall never forget today.

Kind Regards

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Hi Kathy,

Thank you so very much for my quilt. It is awesome and will be perfect on the rack on the ship. My wife crotched a blanket for me years ago in St Kilda AFL colours. She used so much wool that she had bought out Kmart Australia wide of certain colours. Saying that you could probably guess the blanket was a bit on the large size by about 600%. 

Unfortunately, she had no idea that our racks were only a single bed length and probably 3/4 the actual width of a normal single bed. So not very big. And the blanket I got was big enough to touch the ground on all sides of a queen bed - and it weighed 27kgs.

My wife was a little disappointed when she found out I could not use it at sea. But we still use it for camping now, so it hasn't gone to waste.

I am currently posted to HMAS Parramatta, which is an ANZAC class frigate based in NSW. I am married with 5 kids, my wife is an amazing superstar. She works full time as a nurse in Victoria while looking after the kids while I am away. So I am currently living in NSW until next year, and then hopefully I can be posted back to Victoria to be with my family. I was lucky that I was able to spend Christmas at home.

Once again, thank you so very much for my quilt. My kids love Harry Potter and with their names on it, it makes me feel that I am that little bit closer to home.

Kind regards and many thanks

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Dear Sue-Ellen,

Well, what a really lovely surprise. Thank you so much for my quilt.

It was actually a very special friend who ordered this surprise for me, and for our other two gorgeous friends. We all joined the army together in 1989 and our friendship grows stronger each year even though we haven't been able to catch up for a while due to covid - we all live in different states and try to catch up once a year.

I left the Army and did humanitarian work overseas for a couple of years and now I work in health in WA in covid command centre.

Thank you again. I will treasure this and really feel that it was made with love.

All the best for 2022.

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Cheers to another week, don't forget to like, comment and share! 

Thanks to all.