I Didn't Know Him.......

The request came through my quilt guild. An email went out to members saying that someone was hoping to have a memory quilt made using a man's shirts. So I responded and said I had time and would be happy to discuss the project.

A few weeks later a young woman came to our condo with bags full of shirts. Some were still on hangers in dry cleaning bags, others were folded or just bunched up in two large plastic bags. And there was one jacket included. As she took the shirts out and put them on our dining room table bright color after bright color after bright color added to the collection.

She shared only a few details and I really didn't ask many questions. She told me the shirts had belonged to a 21 year old man, a recent college graduate. He was killed in a car crash. He left behind grieving parents and an 18 year old sister. She had known the family for years and when she saw that the young man's mother was going to throw all the shirts away she asked if she could take them.....and that's how they ended up on my dining room table. The family had no idea she contacted me and that I would be using his shirts to make them a memory quilt. When I also offered to make a memory bear she asked if I could make two

I've been working on the project now for a couple weeks. There was no specific deadline. As I ironed the shirts, cut the squares and started to put them together I couldn't help but begin to paint a picture of this young man in my mind. The plaids and colors suggested that this was a guy who did not "fade into the wood work".....when he entered a room I see him entering with a smile and with confidence. (You don't wear an orange and blue plaid or pink and blue stripe shirt if you don't want to be noticed!) I see a wide smile and I hear a big and frequent laugh. I see him as the nucleus of a group of friends, I see him as a much loved son and older brother, I see him with a bright future.....until that future was gone.

In an instant his parents got the telephone call that anyone who's raised children dreads. The call that alters the family universe in an instant and forever. The call that you can't prepare for and that you never forget. Every time the phone rings for ever after it must prompt a sad memory.....a memory that won't go away. Ever.

I don't expect to meet this family......the family with a hole in their hearts where their son/brother used to be. But I hope that when their friend decides to give them the quilt and the two memory bears they will provide some comfort.