Grati-Tuesday - 7th November 2023

 

Happy Tuesday Friends!

First week of November!! 

Below are some amazing and touching letters of gratitude, as always!!!

Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy some well deserved gratitude!

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Good evening Jenny R,

I wanted to say my husband and I just finished reading the letter we got inside my new laundry bag that came from you. 

Now I hope they didn’t go chucking some random letters in random bags, let’s hope you actually made this one. 

We have a fur child called Drover. We are currently posted to Adelaide being both full time serving members of the Royal Australian Army.

We have been serving for 5 and half years, not as long as some, but long enough to appreciate this beautiful gift. 

We both know all too well what it’s like to be alone, if one of us is home the other is away. This year is the first year we have been posted together, I’ve been in Brisbane most of my career whilst my husband has been in Adelaide. 

Enough about work though, what interest us is travelling, F1 and food. Unfortunately due to covid that’s kinda ruined things, but we have just purchased a new 4x4 ute so we can travel around Australia with Drover. 

Drover is our absolute world and you will see him our picture. Has such a cool personality, you’d love him. Soft as s#*! though, terrified of cattle.

How we came to own this laundry bag today was my husband had someone come to his base to talk about resilience, and brought these along with them. He knew I loved dogs and grabbed me this one, which you have made. 

I know it’s just a laundry bag, where I put my dirty clothes. But to know the meaning of how this came about and the love that goes into it, it’s so much more than that. 

I hope this email makes you smile just a little bit, makes you want to keep making these wonderful gifts.

Thank you for devoting your time for people like us.

... 

Dear Gayle W,

I received my beautiful quilt just before I departed for some travel away from Dubai. I have now returned, caught up from the work build-up while I was away, and am writing this to thank so much for the quilt; I love it! 

Thanks you also for the letter - it was a lovely surprise to get both a letter and a quilt. It seems we share similar interests as I live on 3 acres down in Victoria. It is very quiet and peaceful. I moved there approx. 17 years ago and have managed to plant quite a few fruit trees and I have a very productive vegie patch. I like the quieter side of life and although Melbourne and Geelong have lots to offer, the countryside is where I am happiest. As you might expect, we also have plenty of fauna around the district with many bird species as well as the ubiquitous foxes and rabbits. Try as I might to get on top of the rabbit population, it's fair to say that I have failed in this regard.

I have been working for Defence for most of my working life and I must say, I have had a great time.

This trip has been extremely interesting as living and working in Dubai is certainly a great experience.

Dubai is a very interesting place as although it has a population of approx. 3.6 million, native Emeraties comprise only 12 % of the population. The rest appear to be mainly from India, Pakistan, Phillipines, Sri Lankans, Afghan etc. We also see a few people that look to be Russian but who knows where they could be from?

There are a few Navy people here at the moment although not much water where we are (the Arabian Gulf is approx. 45 mins away and the water is like a tepid bath - amazing its temperature compared to beaches were I live). We are at Al Minhad Air Base (AMAB) and each deployment generally consists of 6 months.

AMAB is approx. 45 minutes out of Dubai and to be frank, not much more than sand, sand and more sand. Summer was particularly hot with some days exceeding just over 50 degrees. Extremely hot when you go outside however, you generally just go from air conditioned building to car to air conditioned building so not complaining.

In closing Gayle, again my sincere thanks for making my quilt. It is perfect and will provide a great reminder of this deployment for many years. It will be a tangible reminder of many of the people I have served with here and also of the generosity of some of the Australia people (you and your ADF quilting colleagues). It is currently on my bed and I intend to put on my bed (or use it when cold when back in sunny[????] Victoria). The ADF is truly lucky to have people such as you supporting us.

Kindest regards

... 

Hi Pennie T!

 

Thank you so much for the quilt!

It’s so beautiful, and I’m sure it would have taken so much time and effort to make!

The detail of all the planets and the lil astronauts and spaceship is so stunning too!

For us, the CIS stands for Communication Information Systems. Where we handle all the flags, Morse code, and tactical communications; as well as making sure all circuits on board are working so our ship can talk to other ships, helicopters, submarines, etc.

 

Thank you so much for this quilt Pennie, this will definitely come in handy when I want a cheeky little nap off watch next year when we go to sea!

 

Kindest regards,

... 

Hi Heather B,

Foremostly, thank you very much for taking the time to construct my quilt. It is beautiful and a wonderful depiction of my travels and experiences. When it was presented it to me in front of friends and family, I was overwhelmed with both emotion and awe that someone I didn’t know would take the time to personally make such a magnificent gift.

Heather, I am so grateful; thank you.

I first became aware of AHQ during my last deployment to the Middle East in 2013 where I had a number of my folk in receipt of either the quilt or the laundry bag. From then I have been made more aware of AHQ. It cannot be underestimated the positive impact to the deployed individual when they receive their gift.

In my experience our servicemen and women are wonderful representatives of Australia and for them to receive a personal gift from unknown selfless folk ‘back home’ goes a long way to making them feel their sacrifice is all the more meaningful. You play a huge part in maintaining the morale of our deployed personnel who, for many, are young, homesick, anxious, and frequently bored. It all helps and as a commander I certainly appreciate all the assistance I can get.

Heather, I enjoyed reading your accompanying letter. I feel like I know you quite well. You are certainly entitled to feel very proud of your family military history within the service of Australia. I unfortunately do not have any personal family history of life in service. My wife’s grandfather fought in WWI and fortunately survived. I have recommended the services to our three boys (men now) however, I wonder if my frequent and lengthy absences from the family home throughout their lives may have put them off.

My wife and I have two of our three boys currently living in Canberra. They had left home when I retired and were underway in their respective lives. Our eldest is a project manager and the middle child currently with APS in Canberra. Our youngest returned with us finishing his education in New Zealand. My wife is a special needs teacher at a local primary school, having obtained her teaching qualifications when we were in Canberra.

As much as I am still getting used to life as a civilian with too much time on my hands, I feel blessed to have had a challenging and varied military career in both New Zealand and Australia and would do it all over again. It has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people and my family to experience life in many different towns, cities, and countries.

Thank you once again Heather for your wonderful and generous gift. I will forever cherish the quilt. 

All the very best and Kind Regards

... 

This quilt has gone to Timor Leste to support a charity that is  looking after a village there.

... 

Good afternoon Ruth S,

I’m an able seaman in the navy. I just wanted to say a massive thank you for your hard and incredible work with my laundry bag. I absolutely love it. I wish you all the best for the future and don’t stop making awesome stuff!

Thanks again,

... 

Dear Bridget R,

I wanted to reach out and relay my appreciation for the quilt you created for me. I don't know how it works but whoever passed on what appeals to me nailed it.....the greyhound is even coloured the same as mine.

My entire family was very impressed with your workmanship, however they did make a few jokes about how rarely I replicate the man you emblazoned on the quilt.

A bit about me, I worked through a heap of jobs and only joined defence as a way to see different places and experience new things without having to pay for it. I never thought it would turn into a career, but it turns out I love the people, places and experiences it exposes you to. I am not here to spruik defence and its not for everyone, but it's not a bad gig if you are that way inclined.

Anyway, thanks again. I hope you continue with Aussie Heroes and every day brings you some measure of happiness and joy.

Yours Sincerely,

... 

Good afternoon Susan P,

I just wanted to send a sincere thank you for a Laundry Bag I picked up from the Padre at Butterworth RMAF Base Malaysia. I'm here on Exercise for several weeks and completely forgot my normal basic bag so this really made a difference. I have been a serving member for over 17 years and the patterns on this bag really resonated with me having spent many years in the Territory. Once again thank you!!

Sincerely,

... 

Dear Toni D,

 

I have just received your laundry bag which you kindly made for me, thank you very much! It is perfect.

 

I joined in 2016 straight from school and started down in Cerberus, from there I have deployed on HMAS Choules, Adelaide, Canberra and Supply. I grew up in Sydney and luckily have been able to stay home with most of my postings so far when not at sea.

 

I also plan to have a break from work in the next few years and do ‘THE BIG LAP’ of Australia. I have been building a camper trailer from scratch for the last year learning CAD, Welding and how to not get frustrated! Slowly but surely it is coming together, recently completed the biggest milestone of getting it engineered and registered to drive on the road.

 

It means a lot the time and care you put into the laundry bag I will cherish it.

 

P.S I cannot confirm if the Tim Tams were eaten shortly after opening the parcel.

 

Kindest regards,

... 

Thank you so so much Bev L, it’s absolutely beautiful.

Words can’t describe how thankful I am , It bought the boys and I so much joy opening it and showing them all the amazing details and work you have put into making it.

Thank-you  

... 

Afternoon Jan-Maree,

 

Thank you very much for the invite to Friday nights event(AHQ Volunteer Weekend). It was wonderful to meet some of the volunteers and thank Ellen N personally.

 

The team at 1JPAU are appreciative of the support from Aussie Hero Quilts over the past year – thanks for making our homes, bunks, hotels and cabins more colourful and a little more like home.

 

I am no great sewer but will be going to ‘Spotlight’ next weekend to build my skills up to one day join the wonderful community at AHQ.

 

Kind Regards,  

... 

Good Evening AHQ! 

Just wanted to say a massive thankyou for making these beautiful laundry bags. They have been a massive help in being able to easily identify your laundry bag in a big pile! 

I’m currently on one of the RCB rotations in Malaysia we’ve just come back from field and reading your pamphlet made all the great weather we had in the jungle worth it.  It’s wonderful to know we have such lovely people looking after us and thinking of us. 

Thank you so much,

... 

Hi Ruth S,

I recently received your laundry bag in the mail. Thank you so much. It is absolutely perfect. I can tell a lot of time, effort and love has been put in to it. I really appreciate it. 

Thank you 

...

Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.  

Tuesday's would be so totally boring without them!

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