Journals 2005 February

My plans for exploring new techniques in my journal quilts this year changed dramatically when my husband had a heart attack on February 2nd. As he was helicopter-evacuated to the good heart center at Maine Medical Center in Portland, I raced home to pack, arrange to board the dog, get the kids some food for the 3 hour drive to Portland, and close up the house, I dashed off a quick e-mail to the QuiltArt list to ask folks to send good thoughts our way--they don't air-evac to Portland unless things are going badly in a hurry.

As I was driving down I-95 in the dark to Portland ...our first visit since moving to Maine... hmmm.... all of a sudden I felt as if I weren't alone. I felt the good thoughts and prayers of so many on the quiltart list. The next day, when I logged on to e-mail, there were good wishes from all over the world...across the US, Australia, Israel, Europe....

After successful open heart surgery the next day, the boys and I drove home for a short stay. We made hubby a get-well card, each of us choosing a fabric in our favorite color, and making a zippered heart for the daddy who now had a "zipper" in his ribcage (with a photo of us inside the pocket)! Quilted into the background are the traditional heart-in-hand motif, with wings, to represent the e-mails winging their way to us from all over the world.

Thank you...thank you thank you thank you to the caring and wonderful souls on the quiltart list. You really made a difference when it counted. Hugs, Sarah