One of our vendors, Rose Clawson, comes from a family that has a long history of military service. Right now she has two sons in the military and a daughter-in -law as well. Her youngest son served in Iraq for a total of 26 months. Her eldest son and his wife are scheduled for deployment overseas in 2009. Rose is justifiably proud of the service her family has given to our country. She also cares deeply about the individuals who serve in the Armed Forces.Last summer Rose asked her fellow vendors at the Ann Arbor Sunday Artisan Market to help her create a quilt that would be donated to a wounded soldier. The quilt would be about our wishes for that soldier's healing and our thanks for his or her service and sacrifice. Many of us created the squares that Rose then sewed together. Each square was a wish or a hope or a thank you. It gave each of us a chance to connect, to do something tangible to help one of someone who had put their life on the line. It seemed a very small thing compared to what our soldiers were doing.
Rose pulled all the pieces together. Each artisan had created something unique. Rose pulled those pieces together to create a really lovely quilt. There was a problem, however. The organization that had originally recruited the quilts, for some reason, no longer wanted this one. It became an orphan of sorts. The quilt was filled with love and care and hopeful thoughts and wishes, but there was no one to offer those sentiments to.
Rose knew better. She knew she only had to wait and the right use for the quilt would come forward. Her son, who had already served in Iraq, told her it was lovely. He told her it needed to be used. Rose waited. She didn't say if she waited patiently or not, only that she knew the right use for the quilt would happen. And, she was right.
She learned of a soldier serving in Iraq, in Sadr City. She learned, from his mother, that the soldiers there did not go out during the day. They rarely saw blue sky. Not only were they in danger from those who saw them as the enemy, but they also lived a life that was demoralizing and discouraging. These soldiers could use all the cheer and good wishes they could get. Rose handed the quilt over, knowing it was going where it had found its purpose. The Sunday Artisan Market Quilt was going where it would do the most good. It was going to Iraq, to Sadr City. Most importantly, it was going to give some guys a badly needed morale boost. It was going to say 'thank you' directly to the people who deserved and needed that 'thank you.'
I made one of those small squares that Rose stitched together. At the time I did it because it seemed a small thing to do. After listening to Rose tell me the quilt's story and where it had ended up I was very glad that I had taken the time to decorate a square. Such a small thing. Only a few minutes of time. If it would help someone help great. Now, however, I feel as though I have been given the opportunity to really touch some lives. Hopefully, in a small way, to make those lives a little bit better. In a war that is, in so many ways, so far away and so incomprehensible, there is a human connection. I am grateful to Rose for that opportunity. It is a very special thing to make even such a small connection.
As for Rose, well, she cares deeply about many things. What I know of Rose is that she cares. She cares about her family. She is proud of her family's military heritage and she is oh, so proud of her children and their willingness to serve in the armed forces of the United States. When she puts her mind to something she wants to do it right. She cares that something is the way it is suppose to be. She cares about her baskets and her quilts. And, right now, she cares deeply that the quilt she envisioned and brought to fruition is serving those who deserve to be served. Thanks Rose, for letting the rest of us be a small part of your caring and vision. Thanks for letting us touch someone else's life, to make that life, maybe, just a little better.
