For those quilters who have something under your needle, you know, as you meander along, how much thinking can take place during this time. The measuring is done, the cutting is done, figuring out how much to cut for borders is done, and maybe even the measurements for binding. So while you meander, let me give you something to dwell on. We need our first responders. Even on the days that we don't think we need them, they are a phone call away. If we did need them, they would be there.
I have heard so many stories of the pain these people carry because of what they see, who they deal with; those they lose; those they save. I have also become aware of way too many families who are living without a parent or spouse because they couldn't live with the pain any longer. One could say that you have to be tough, and emotionally able to handle things. I don't know about you, but I don't just want the tough, hard people to come for me and my family when we call. I want someone that can show compassion, show patience, someone who can be calm when I can't. Unfortunately, these very qualities are the ones that can't be turned off and on. A person who can display these traits in an emergency situation is a person who innately has these qualities. And if they are displaying these qualities, they are carrying what they see, and what has happened, with them. As much as they return home to their own loved ones, and maybe hold their spouse and family a little longer, protect a little harder, cry a little easier; there are things that they have encountered that live inside them that we can't even imagine. Sometimes it's not only what they deal with on a day to day basis, but it's also being hard on themselves for having to turn themselves off sometimes just to survive.
We need to support our first responders. We need to let them know that even if we can't, in our wildest imagination, conjure up what some days look like when they head to work, we need their compassion and vulnerability.
This is what makes them our everyday heroes. Hopefully, as you work on your quilt that will wrap them in compassion, and let them know that we care, you can offer up a prayer of thanks for who they are, and a prayer for strength for every single first responder who needs to know that we appreciate and are so thankful for the compassionate side that makes them so great at what they do.
