Grati-Tuesday 14th June 2022

 

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!

I have had the great privilege of posting my first Grati-Tuesday message. 

 It has been awesome to read the letters/emails which all reinforce what a joy it is to receive a LB/Quilt and how much 'gratitude' they have towards their creators and AHQ. 

So grab a cuppa, sit back, relax and enjoy the gratitude letters below. 

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Good Afternoon Marilyn S,

 

Thank you so much for my laundry bag.

 

I am from Queensland and have been in service for approximately 5 years. My ethnicity is Vietnamese and from a small family of one older brother and parents. Prior to the Navy I was studying university and completed my double degree in Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Bachelor of Psychological Science. I am currently a cyber warfare operator and am a massive nerd as you may have realised from my Pokemon themed choice. 

 

Thank you again for your efforts and time placed sewing our laundry bags. It is a great reminder that we have people back home awaiting our return. I wish you all the best to yourself and your family and stay safe!

 

Kind regards

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Dear Ladies (of Crib Point Community House)

 

On behalf of the Dutch soldiers, working closely with the Aussie troops, I would like to thank you. Your hand-made (laundry bags) contribution is highly valued and inspires all of us.

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Good Evening Karen C.

I wanted to let you know that I have received the laundry bag you made for my husband. Thank you, it looks great!

I know he will love it and will come in very handy.

Also, thank you for your letter telling us a bit about yourself.

My husband has been in the Army for 28 years. We have two children and a fur baby (who is more like an old man these days).

We move around every three years or so, which can be very hard on us all, starting new schools, jobs and trying to make friends in new locations. But we get through it as a close knit family.

My husband has been away since November 2021 and is finally coming home after a total of 207 days apart, but whose counting!

Thank you again for the laundry bag.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Kind regards

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Good Morning Anne H,

 

I would like to thank you so much for my wonderful Plymouth Argyle Football Club laundry bag from the bottom of my heart. You done such a good job with it and I love it.

 

As you can imagine football in the UK is really big and supporting your local team is a big deal. PAFC did really well this season but missed out on a promotion playoff spot on the last day of the season (absolutely devastating after a long season). 

 

I’m looking forward to travelling to the UK in July to see my parents and spend some time with the family. My brother and I are travelling to Scotland to watch the 150^th Golf Open (hopefully your husband will not be jealous being a golfer!) at St Andrews and of course hopefully take in a football match at the start of the season before I fly back to Australia.

 

Please don’t underestimate the effect and morale that you and your friends from Aussie Hero Quilts & Laundry Bags have on Sailors deployed.  

Once again I thank you for the wonderful laundry bag.

 

Kind regards,

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Hi Kathy W

Thank you very much for the quilt you have gifted me. What a beautiful quilt! It was unexpected and I am very grateful.  I have been on the Defence Task Force for over 7 months now and it has been a privilege to work alongside our Defence Force members.

I have played piano since I was three and also played the cello throughout primary and high school! Now I don't play as much but have found a new love for musical theatre.  I'm a musical director and a conductor (and always looking for flute players!)

Thank you for all the work you do for Aussie Hero Quilts, I am very humbled to have received one.  I hope you continue to spread the joy. 

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Dear Lyn K

I am finally sitting down to write and thank you for the beautiful green quilt that you sent me . It is on display on the top bunk in my two-berth cabin.  

I chose to have a green quilt because I was deployed to the Middle East and we could not get off our ship for 119 days.  What people missed was plants, trees, grass, flowers, shade and the scent of nature.  I try to bring some of that to my cabin now, with a green rug on the deck (people call it "The Lawn") and fake plants on shelves.  Your green quilt finishes it off nicely.  

I joined the Navy straight from school in 1989 and discharged in 1995.  I re-joined 5 and a half years ago having never imagined that I'd be lucky enough to serve a second time in our wonderful Navy.

My ship goes back to sea again tomorrow and I'm excited about that.  I have always enjoyed being at sea.  Largely for the community of people who live and work in the ship and partly because of the mysticism and awe of living between the ocean and the sky.

Thank you once again for the sewing that you do for our Defence people. I wish that you could see, as I do, the wonder and joy on their faces as they open their gifts.

Warm regards

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Dear Beverley F

Firstly, I would like to take the time to thank you for the quilt I received from you. This deployment to Africa has been a fairly busy one and I do not get a lot of down time. However, I am reaching the end of my nine months away. 

My mother was a former teacher, primarily science, agriculture and primary industry. She now works with people with disabilities teaching them how to sail small two-person boats (tasers). I also have a strong family link to service dating back to the Boer War. 

 

I am currently deployed within a UN military headquarters supporting a Division sized operation in Africa. It is currently the largest UN military operation in the world. Working with and within the UN has been an interesting and sometimes frustrating experience but I hope I have been able to make a difference for the people of this country and show all the other nations serving here that the  Australian Defence Force is a professional, capable and respectful organisation. 

 

I wish you all the best for the remainder of 2022 and for the future, and I hope that many more Australian servicemen or women are lucky enough to receive a quilt made by you. 

 

Yours Sincerely,

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Good Afternoon Bridget R,

Today, I got an awesome surprise. I opened up your package and I was totally gob smacked at the blanket and laundry bag. Your crafting is beautiful, and both items I will cherish forever. I know my children will be fighting over the quilt for many years to come – they need to get it off me first.

I wanted to personally thank you for the quilt and laundry bag. It is one of the best surprises I’ve received in my 26 years in the Navy.

I also enjoyed learning about you and your family. I hope by making them I didn’t take you away from your family too much.

Once again, thank you!

Kind Regards

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Good Morning Bridget R

I have received my quilt, and it is truly amazing. Thank you very much! I appreciate the time and effort that went into making it.

 

Kind Regards,

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Its always great to see our Laundry Bags in use. 

They really brighten up an otherwise drab environment.

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Well, that's it for my first week on the job!

Hope you enjoyed reading the messages as much as I did!!

Please remember to let us know if you receive a letter from a grateful recipient. It is an enormous privilege to be able to share the joy these special gifts bring.

Till next week.....