As many of you know one of our own, Swampyankee, has had a really bad time of it recently. She lost her husband and it has hit her very hard. It was so bad that she attempted suicide. Luckily, she thought about her kitties and called someone. She is doing much better and is in therapy.
I had originally suggested a Community Quilt aka Love Catcher for her but as Nurse Kelley reminded me, SaraR is still recuperating herself from surgery and is behind on the quilt list. I certainly don't want to add any pressure to SaraR or jeopardize her recovery. A huge thank you to SaraR for the inspiration!
In talking to Horsefeathers, I suggested a virtual quilt but had no idea how to pull it off. Well, Horsefeathers talked to mytrinkets and between us (and of course Andy, Stanley and Peeps - feline companions if you're not part of the PWB group) it all got worked out!
Thanks to everyone who left messages Friday and Saturday in the PWB diaries. It was suggested that I post a diary so more people could see it and add messages. So here is my first ever DKos diary. (The PWB references are because that's where I've interacted with swampyankee.
So, what you can do:
Please leave a picture of your furry or feathery or other non-human companion with a comment for swampyankee. It can be funny, sentimental or whatever (as long as it's not porn or negative! remember there are kittehs and puppies reading this) and it will be added to the virtual quilt. Or include a photo of yourself and your companion if you like. Or a picture of yourself alone. If you don't have a current companion or don't want to add a picture, just leave a message.
Please note the message should be short as it will need to fit in a virtual square. Try and keep it around 25-30 words. If it is too long, we may edit it but your original comment will be available in the diary where it was posted, or maybe I'll get brave and do a second diary with all of the comments!
Also, please try to post a photo that is square. The size doesn't matter but rectangular pictures are harder to place in a square.
They will be compiled, posted on a virtual fabric panel and stitched together virtually and posted in a diary when complete. The image will fit into a diary space but will link to a larger image that swampyankee can download and keep on her computer to read. It may not be big enough to cuddle under but the love and warmth of a real quilt will be there for her.
Please spread the word to all other groups swampyankee posts in so we can have lots of messages and pictures for her. Per caravanserai my understanding is that her computer hasn't been sent out yet for repairs so we have about 1 1/2 weeks to pull this off. When it is complete, we will post it as a diary and more messages of support can be left there. Let's try to keep this a surprise.
Here's a link to Friday's comment and some of the messages, I'll be checking back to each diary daily to make sure we don't miss anyone. virtual quilt Friday
And Saturday's comment: virtual quilt Saturday
An update in Sunday's #sekritarmy diary from Ebby: "swampyankee sends thanks to all the P-W peeps
I talked to her yesterday and told her lots of folks and their critters are sending good thoughts her way. She said to please convey her thanks -- she can't wait to get back on-line and back to her friends in the diaries. I know that virtual quilt is going to mean so much to her!"
I would like to keep this a surprise for swampyankee, so if you talk to her, please don't tell her about the virtual quilt, but give her my best regards!
I think this song best expresses how I feel about this community:
If you have trouble posting your photo you can email it to me or if you have any other questions, my email is psfinla at gmail.com.
Thanks, Phyllis (psfinla)
Update 3/15
Wow you guys are awesome! You've posted so many messages of support and pictures that we are going to have to stop at this point. If you still want to leave a message, please do so when we post the diary presenting the quilt. This grew way bigger than we expected! We will have some other suggestions for things we can do shortly. Again, thank you so much for all of the love you've shown to swampyankee. I always knew this community was the best!