In the Strangest Places

 

Many of you have asked – How do I find these Veterans that need a Quilted Hug?

Well – I have been doing this for a long time so many people know me, and know what I do – that helps. My name and number is out there. But here is an interesting one.

A friend of mine had to go to the dentist. She mentioned Quilts, and starting to stitch blocks for our Quilts ( for Military) , and the dental tech started talking about a friend she had, who had a son/soldier, who had just returned from Afghanistan, and he wasn’t having a good time. So my friend got the dental techs friends’ number and told me I needed to call….. did you follow all that?

So I called. I talked to this soldiers Mom and all she could say was – he’s in a bad place and I don’t know what to do. I made the date and time to come to her house …. And away I went.

When I arrived he was out in the yard doing some yard work. He knew a friend of his moms was coming, but didn’t know anything other than that. So imagine his surprise when I introduce myself to his mom. He thought we already knew each other – oops!

I introduced myself to him and of course asked if he had a minute.

Turns out life had been a little rough on him. When he was in country, his driver’s license expired. He was allowed to drive a HumVee in a foreign country, but when he came back here he couldn’t rent an apartment without a valid license. And the DMV was giving him a huge run around since it had expired over a year ago… shame right?

He had so much paperwork and protocol to go thru ( besides the Drivers License) , at the same time suffering from injuries, that it was truly overwhelming to him. I was beyond frustrated for him. But! I also came bearing phone numbers and people that could help get done what needed to be done. So he and I got to calling these people. I had decided that he had so many things that had to be done, and I am an organizer – I was just going to schedule it all.. poor kid… he didn’t know what hit him.

Anyways we had all the appointments set up for the next week. People were working on his list and there was a little light there for him. And then I remembered! I came to wrap him in hugs and love with a Quilt!!

I went back to my car and got the Quilt of Valor® out.  I proceeded to tell him all about it and how I came to his house that day. I told him all about this quilt, and why I thought he really needed it, and I wrapped him up in it. He might have had a little weepy eye going on, but you could tell, that quilt was NOT coming off for a while. I told him every time he thought he needed a little extra love, he needed to wrap himself in it.

Because I just can’t let things go, I called some of our contacts to make sure that he had arrived for his appointments. One of the folks said – Yes he did, and he came with his Quilt.

Now if that just doesn’t make a little ol’ me extremely happy.

And that! Is how I meet Veterans (active duty or not)