Friendship and Brotherhood

The first time I picked up a needle and thread, I never imagined how it would change and enrich my life...not just through the things I create but through the friendships that have been created because we came together as quilters.  I have met some of the most wonderful people through quilting.  One of these wonderful people is Cheryl Summerville and I've just loved her since the moment I met her.  She's one of these folks that is easy to be around...wicked funny, grounded and easy to be around and genuinely caring.

About a year and a half ago, we were at retreat at Montreat.  She came up for one night only...the first night she had been away from home since her husband had had surgery a few months before.  I was so glad she came even for a bit and I remember hugging her in the parking lot as she left to go back home, wishing her safe travels and that Walt kept up the good recovery.  A few days later, we hear that Walt passed away unexpectedly.  I can't describe the sorrow I felt for my friend.  I may ramble on here but in real life, I am usually at a loss for words.  I'm not good with my own pain, much less someone else's.  I never know what to say.  If there was a sound I could make to express the sorrow I feel and the comfort I wish to give, I'd make it but nothing comes out.

Because Walt was the Fire Chief, the funeral was large. All the town's fire trucks lined the church parking lot as well as fire trucks from other departments across the state.  A small contention of quilters attended. Without going into a lot of detail, I'll just say that the funeral was moving beyond anything I've ever seen.  This man was loved...by his family, his friends, his town, and the men and women who served under him.  There is a brotherhood among firefighters that is stronger than any other and if you've ever attended a firefighter's funeral, you will feel that bond.

As our little group of quilters left, we talked about things we could do and like I said before, I'm not good with words in the face of someone else's pain and loss.  I feel awkward and I'm afraid of intruding.  Where I can't speak in words, I can speak through a quilt.  I wanted to DO something, something that spoke where I could not, something that would honor my friend, Cheryl, something that would remind the town that Walt was...  I wanted to do something to show the firefighting community that what they do means something to someone who is outside looking in.

Because the firefighting community is so connected beyond a town boundary, I decided to contact fire departments across the state and see if they would donate patches that I could use in a quilt. There are cover 600 fire departments in this state.  Did you know that?  Holy cow.  I started by contacting the NC Fire Chiefs Association.  The president sent my email to their yahoo group.  His patch was the first I received.  They started to trickle in after that and I thought...okay...it'll be a wall hanging.  A few weeks later, my mailman asked me what the heck I did.  I received around 100 patches in the mail...plus a few from friends including a kindergarten/high school friend who is a firefighter in Chapel Hill.  The first time I took the quilt over to the fire station, there were some spaces on the quilt borders that were empty...so the guys filled them in with their own.

There are patches on there from guys that trained with Walt including one patch from New South Wales and guys that worked under him and had moved on to other cities.  They wrote letters to me and I cried.  I put them in a book for Cheryl with a warning that I boohooed and didn't even know these guys.  There is one patch that is a 1940's era Kernersville patch.  In the center is a memorial patch for Walt that another quilting friend digitized and embroidered for the quilt.

It was a long process but we finally presented the quilt last night.  It's taken almost as long to get a presentation date than it did for me to make the quilt but we finally decided to just present it at the fire station.  Leave the town council and the mayor and the managers out of it.  It's not about them anyway.  It's about the firefighters, their families, friendship and brotherhood.

I've made over 700 quilts.  Some of them have been very meaningful but this one... this one has my heart.