Happy Tuesday Friends!
We have a great collection of messages today from far and wide.
I was lucky enough to attend the Invictus Games laundry bag presentation last Tuesday. The athletes are very inspiring and I wish them all the very best for the games. Our first thank-you is from one of those awesome competitors. You might need tissues for the second message from the Co-Captain.
Grab a cuppa or cool drink, sit back and relax while you soak up some well-deserved gratitude!
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Dear Beverly U,My name is Doug and I am the Co-Captain of our 2025 Invictus Games Team and I am immensely proud and honoured to have received the amazing laundry bag that you made for me. It is simply wonderful and means so very much to me.I have been blessed known Jan-Maree for many years now, and I have been the proud recipient of 2 very special quilts which have come to me at pivitol moments of my life and service. Each meaning so much. I have used them for strength and motivation when needed and for comfort during my cancer journey.The Opening Ceremony of the Invictus Games marks 2 years to the day that I was admitted to hospital with what turned out to be stage IV of a very rare variant of a non-hodgkin lymphoma. I am not in remission, I wont go into remission and I consider everyday I have now as a blessing.I cherish the opportunity I have to be on this amazing team. I will cherish your amazing laundry bag and I want to thank you so much for this amazing gift.Thank you so much
Dear Robyn
Hello Jan D!
I’m reaching out to thank you for the laundry bag that I received today. On deployments the boring grey ship can really make you miss home, these laundry bags go a long way to brightening up our little living spaces and making them more homely.
When I’m not on the ship I’m out on my motorcycle as much as possible, I have a 2013 Dyna super glide Custom, although before that I did have a fire truck red 2004 fat boy, and I’ve always wanted a 90’s Evo Dyna for the collection. My girlfriend isn’t in to bikes and I think she gets sick of hearing me talk about them, but she does happily get on the back if I’m going out riding to check out some pubs down the coast.
I grew up in country Victoria on a couple acres as well before I enlisted and always loved the bush, and every year the family would take our caravan up to Pambula so I’ve always had a soft spot for southern NSW. Both my parents are retired now as well and still take the caravan out as much as they can, but they haven’t gotten further then VIC/NSW just yet.
I spent most of last year deployed and about to leave on another deployment now, but the second half of this year is looking like I’ll be home more so hoping to fit a few camping trips in myself. I’ve only been in WA a couple years and still got a lot of exploring to do.
Thanks again Jan, myself and everyone on board HMAS Stuart really appreciate what you and the other lovely ladies in this program do!
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Dear Ruth S
Thank you so much for my beautiful laundry bag!
I’m 24 years old and grew up in Wodonga, Victoria. I’m in the Navy and this is my first overseas deployment on land (I’ve been on a few on ships). The colours and designs on my laundry bag are so beautiful and vibrant and exactly what I had in mind. The bag definitely brightened up my day, especially as it arrived over Christmas!
When I go home, I’ll continue to use the laundry time during my time as sea on HMAS Canberra.
Thank you also for the chocolate which my friends and I ate while watching a movie. Thank you again for using your time, fabric and incredible talent to make my bag.
I am so so grateful and will treasure it forever. Hope you had a Merry and safe Christmas with your family and best wished for the year ahead! Thank you again.
Kindly
Dear Bel P,
I have received the most AMAZING quilt and laundry bag!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH. The most fabulous surprise, and I couldn’t be happier with what you have created. Obviously you are very talented! I feel very fortunate to have had you create these pieces for me.
Thank you also for your letter – what a story you have! So nice to speak to others who are in the Navy. No doubt I have already crossed paths with your husband at some point, and most likely your daughter in the future. You must be very proud!
It sounds like you had a really lovely Christmas and New Year period. I managed to align to my leave with the period, so actually spent it in Australia with my family – very grateful. My next leave period is at the end of April, and then I finish the mission at the end of June. As you can imagine, I am extremely excited to be heading home for good in a few months.
Thank you so much again – I will never forget your kindness and generosity. Your work is unbelievable, and I am forever grateful for my gifts.
All the best,
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Good Afternoon Robyn P,
I have recently received your amazing airplane themed quilt, and I just have to say it is amazing and I love it so much! Honestly, I have not been this happy, and you have certainly chosen some great aeroplanes and I just wanted to really write this informal email just to say thank you for your quilt as well as letter!!
I love your ideas with the Flying Geese Pattern, and I also sincerely hope that your husband and son are still flying! Besides my naval career, I also am learning to fly for fun on the weekend out of Bankstown, NSW whenever weather and work allows me to do so. It is an amazing hobby I should have started at 17, but it is an expensive one at that!
I truly hope that all is well for you, and 2025 is off to a fantastic start as well!
Again, thank you so much Robyn!!!Kind regards,
Good Evening Jan D,
Thank you enormously for my laundry bag, it is much appreciated. It looks terrific and will make an excellent replacement to my tattered old one, which has seen better days. I think you have done a great job for your first Aussie Hero’s bag.
I have been in the Navy for 13 Years currently serving as a Leading Seaman Combat Systems Operator Underwater. I grew up around farming and have a fondness for returning to the family farms. I have not ridden a horse in such a long time and look forward to teaching my daughter one day. I have a wife and two children (5 & 2) who live in Sydney. We hope to return to our home in Goulburn we purchased in 2020.
Thank you for the well wishes over the Christmas period and New year and I hope you too had a wonderful holiday period.
Wishing you a wonderful 2025 and good luck on your future Aussie Hero Quilts. Thank you once again.
Yours Aye
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Good evening Heather B!It’s an absolute pleasure to send you this email.I just received your hero quilt in the mail and I am absolutely blown away by the love and care you’ve put into it. It also happens to look really, really, REALLY cool and my colleagues are jealous! I know just where to put it at my home as well. Thank you!! (:It was lovely to read a bit about you too. I don’t like talking about myself too much but I feel like I should return the favour.I’m 26 years old and from Hobart, Tasmania with not much of a family history in the military at all. I’m a Maritime Warfare Officer in the RAN, currently deployed to the Kingdom of Bahrain to conduct maritime security operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Considering the news in the last 6-12 months or so, you could say we have been busy!I’m also very pleased to say that I know the story of HMAS Perth (I) quite well as I was posted to HMAS Perth (III) as an Officer of the Watch for almost 2 years! Today she has little paw prints for the ship’s cat (which I’m sure you know all about) painted on the deck.I have fond memories of conducting memorial services over the site of the battle of the Sunda Strait, participating in the memorial service of Frank McGovern as the last surviving crew member of Perth (I), and telling the story to the many people that visit. Recently, ship’s company also visited the Thai-Burma railway.I won’t harp on about it too much longer, but it’s no exaggeration to say that the sacrifice made by your Uncle and his shipmates forms a part of my identity. It fills me with pride to have contributed to the same perpetuated his story. I have been to many places in the world both in and out of the Navy, and Australia is the best.
Hopefully what I’ve written can convey how much your quilt really does mean to me – a huge thank you again for sending it!
Thanks and 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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