Grati-Tuesday 4th June 2024

 

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Welcome to June! 

Our messages are from all over the planet this week. Isn't it great knowing we can reach so many people who are deployed all around the world and bring them a bit of home!

So grab a cuppa, sit back and relax while you soak up some well deserved gratitude from all over the globe! 

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G’day Colleen S and Cheryl F from Lebanon! 

 

I would like to say an incredible thank you for your time and effort in preparing the lovely quilt and laundry bags I received. I wanted to thank you both together so you could see how well both items work together! 

 

When I was thinking about what design to request I thought back to my first couple of years in the Army when I spent a year on exchange in New  Zealand. While I was there it was the little reminders of home that made it easier being away. So for the quilt I asked for Australiana and for the bag just Aussie Beaches with the creative license over to you! When I opened the packages I was so very pleased. You both made my day. 

 

The quilt on the bed and bag next to it really make my room feel like home. When I walk in and see them it puts a smile on my face, and the room feeling homely really helps to wind down from a sometimes long and sometimes stressful period patrolling. 

 

I also loved reading a bit about you both and what drove you to volunteer for AHQ. 

 

Colleen, Thank you for serving and paving the way for the conditions our women in the forces have today. And congratulations on being a grandmother to another young boy! 

 

Cheryl, as a mother of children who served, I'm sure you can understand the pleasure my mum felt when I showed her what I had received from AHQ. I too hope to travel Australia like that someday! Stay safe on your trip to Canada, I hope it is wonderful. 

 

Once again ladies thank you so much. I’ll treasure and use these for years to come. 

Quilt by Colleen S

Laundry Bag by Chery F

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Dear Pennie T, 

 

Thank you so much for my quilt, I greatly appreciate it, it is so beautiful and exactly what I was hoping for. 

 

I could not believe it when I read your letter, I grew up just around the corner from you! Some of my family still live there, and Mum has moved down to the flat. The added touch of knowing it was made by a South Australian gave it even more of a special touch. 

 

I was posted to RAAF Edinburgh from 2021-22 and can appreciate how special it is to post back home after a long stint away (I joined in 2013). I hope you are able to spend time with your Son and his Fiancee. Some of the best ANZAC Days have been in small towns surrounded by locals.  I was able to spend an ANZAC Day in the service with my father at Port Noarlunga before he passed away and consider it one of the best memories we have together. 

 

I'll be honest I havent been keeping up to date with Wang Wang and Funi, but have no doubt that they are used as bargaining tools.  

 

I hope the weather in Adelaide is treating you well and it isn't getting too cold at this time of year, 

 

There are a few Adelaide Crows supporters over here so we get together at weird times of the day to watch it live on the weekends. 

 

I greatly appreciate your support, it means alot to us all. 

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Hi Shirley D,

 I’m emailing you to thank you so sincerely for my laundry bag. I love it! I have been serving in the RAN for nearly 10 years. I joined in 2015 as a Maritime Warfare Officer and studied a Bachelor of Business at ADFA for my first few years. Since graduating I have served on HMAS Diamantina, HMAS Choules and HMAS Albany. I am currently posted to HMAS Broome which is based out of Darwin.

I love my job and I love being able to lead my team in conducting our Mission on Operation Resolute. It is very rewarding getting to see the growth and development of the crew and the sense of pride they have in serving their country. Your contribution to Aussie Hero’s goes a long way in adding a bit of character and charm to these guys home when we are at sea, not to mention reminds them that their service is valued and for that I cannot thank you enough.

 It's funny you’ve mentioned you used to be a secondary teacher, I think that my future may hold a similar career path as I continue to get older. I am thinking of transitioning into PE and History teaching as my partner and I grow our family in the next few years.

 Thank you again for my laundry bag, it will be cherished and definitely put to good use in the hot Darwin Weather. Best of luck with the golfing, it sounds like your family have quite knack for the game. I hope the Victorian winter is not too harsh for you all this year.

 Kind regards,

 

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Good morning Anne H,

 

I am emailing to pass on my thanks and let you know I received your laundry bag!

 

It has accompanied me for the last 3 months throughout Malaysia and Singapore and made my life a lot easier when it came to doing laundry with a unique laundry bag.

 

I enjoyed your recommendations and definitely visited China House for the ‘home style cakes’. I can understand why you and your husband enjoy spending time over in George Town and surrounds – while it has been a busy trip for us I have made the most of my spare time on the island! If you haven’t been I recommend on your return visiting Picco Pollo café and The Maker on Beach Street – both some of the best patisseries I have been too and at a great price compared to Australia!

 

I also couldn’t help noticing your address as I am also a Tassie boy. Not only did I spend a few years at UTAS in Hobart but spent a lot of my childhood just up the road with my grandparents in Mt Nelson so I am very familiar with your street.

 

Thank you once again for all the work you do for ADF members, it is appreciated.

 

Kind regards,

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Hi Belinda P,
 
Thank you so much for the wonderful laundry bag! It is absolutely perfect and will be well loved (the glitter is the perfect final touch).
 
I enjoyed receiving the letter along with it as well, it was nice hearing how it came together – attached is a photo with some of us who received our dhoby bags last week.
 
I am so glad to hear of your volunteer work with AHQ, receiving the laundry bags and/or quilts really does mean a lot to everyone and lifts our spirits. We all had a good laugh and chat while getting the photo seeing how requests (including ‘surprise me’) were interpreted and pulled together.

I have been lucky enough to receive one other bag when I was deployed to Bahrain in 2015 which my Fiancé, who is in the Army, has subsequently commandeered as he thinks they’re an awesome bit of kit. It has been put to good use in barracks and his washing is easy to spot, though it did mean I was in need of another now I’m back at sea!
 
Thank you once again for the absolutely perfect laundry bag, going down to collect my laundry will now be a much brighter evolution!
 
Kind Regards,

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Good Evening Philomena H,

 

I have just received my quilt and laundry bag.

 

I have seen a lot of other designs on the website but what you have made me are the best I have ever seen!!

 

I could not be happier with both my quilt and laundry bag, you have perfectly interpreted my request and created something better than I could have imagined. The attention to detail and creative flare to use the materials available is amazing, I can’t believe how you were able to mimic an Afghan rug so well.

 

Thank you very much for putting in so much effort and I truly appreciate what you have made for me.

 

Kind Regards,

 ...

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

Tuesday's would be so totally boring without them!

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