Blocks Needed for Grieving Family

I've never been good at asking for help....

but I'm going to on this one.

I know the heart of quilters....

I am going to put together quilts for Tory, Chris' Mom

his two brothers and one for the

soldier who was his best friend

and who fought right alongside Chris...

and was 

there...

when he took his last breath.

I'm going to do the quilts in a muted red, white and blue

theme.

And I thought 'Star' blocks would be so appropriate

in this situation.

I would so appreciate any of you who

would like to help me in this endeavor.

I need 8" blocks

(Finished Size of Block to be 8 1/2" X 8 1/2") 
or 
(12 1/2" X 12 1/2" Blocks)

and when I say muted...

the best way to describe it...

is kind of like the Minnick and Simpson fabrics

that are always designed for Moda.

(They don't have to be Minnick and Simpson though!!) 


There is a fantastic tutorial that just posted over
here at 
Madam Samm's Blog

on how to make a fabulous Star Block.
(Since this tutorial is for 12 1/2" blocks, we will make one or two of the quilts (or more) with this size of block too!)

We would be so grateful for any!

I would so appreciate it too,

if any of you would like to copy this post on your blog.

I'm hoping Tory will help me sew them all together

to help her in her grieving.

I'm also going to try to get a local group

together to help out as well,

when all of the blocks are received.

If at all possible we need the blocks by end of October.

You may send them to:

The Scrappy Appleyard

3218 Knobview Drive

Nashville, TN 37214

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You all will never know how much your comments, prayers

and thoughts have helped us to get through this tragedy.

May God bless you all...

Please Say a Prayer for Tory Today...

Today...

was supposed to be her

wedding day.

I know it's going to be a tough one

for her.

We are back from the funeral.

These last 2 weeks have been

the saddest weeks of all my 49 years.

Chris' remains being pulled by horse and cart

through town from the funeral home

to the high school 

where the funeral was going to be.

Tory is the one all in black on the right hand side of the picture.

I cannot begin to tell you how touching and humbling this whole experience was for us.

Chris' family enveloped Tory as their own...

and the whole town embraced her too.

So many people came up to me and said how impressed they were with her

and how that she was part of their town now. She was family.

Chris' father introduced her to everyone as their daughter-in-law...

not Chris' fiance.

Throughout the whole viewing and funeral,

his parents were by her side,

hugging her, holding her up,

and truly showing her what family is all about.

Chris' mom told me that on Monday

when Tory first walked into the viewing room 

and saw Chris,

that she literally fell to the ground weeping and sobbing

uncontrollably. 

The next day was the viewing for everyone else.

When we came in,

it was all I could do myself to hold it together

to see that dear boy

lying there,

gone from us.

Chris' parents

made us come over and sit with them throughout 

the whole viewing and throughout the funeral.

His dad said to us,

"Your family too."

I was amazed at the funeral, when the minister said about

half way through...

 "Now Tory is going to have a few words to say."

I sat there weeping 

as my little girl got up

in front of thousands of people...

walked to the podium

in her grief...

and spoke to the crowd of her love for Chris,

and her devastation of him being taken from her.

From there,

the body was loaded back onto the cart,

and literally thousands of people

walked behind the horse and cart

from the school to the graveyard.

The Patriot Guard were one of the most touching things to witness.

Not only were they there standing all through the funeral,

but also the day of the viewing,

they all stood out there in front of the funeral home

with their flags for hours...

as everyone came in 

to pay their last respects.

Although hard...

this experience has touched me in a way

that nothing else ever has.

Amongst great sorrow,

we witnessed what Small Town America

is really about.

And it is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Yellow ribbons lined the trees and poles....

hundreds of flags were lining streets, homes, places of business...

banners, posters, handmade signs,

were made

welcoming home their home town hero.

Hotels and bed and breakfasts

put all of us up free of charge for however long

we needed to be there...

served us breakfasts,

and grieved right along with us...

We are now safely home but...

today we are especially feeling our loss...

simply because we were supposed to be having a celebration

of the joining of these two lives.

But we know time will heal...

God will heal...

and life will go on.

I can't thank you enough for all the prayers uttered on our behalf these last two weeks.

I know it was 'prayer' that was holding us all up,

when the sorrow was just to great to bear.

Humbly my friends,

from my heart...

may our great God bless you all for coming through in our time of need.

Love....

Her Soldier Boy's Last Kisses...

 I cried my eyes out when she posted this picture on her Facebook page.

We pulled in around 1 a.m. from our Cincinnati show...

We will be headed out early in the morning to leave for New York.

The viewing is Tuesday afternoon...

and the full military funeral is Wednesday at 4 pm.

Humbly I thank you all for investing your precious

hours in praying for all involved in this tragedy.

I thought I'd share a prayer with you 

that my little Tory prayed audibly in church

every time she prayed....

since she was about 8

"Lord we pray for everyone who needs a prayer today."

And I think of all around the world who are now praying for her,

who don't even know her

but who have entered right along next to her with this great sorrow.

I know so many other families have walked this road

before us,

and I will be eternally grateful to each and every

young life that was given for my freedom.

 You Tube Video honoring our fallen hero...

Fallen Soldier

Subject: Fwd: FW: Respect and Appreciation (UNCLASSIFIED)

This Airline Pilot writes: My lead flight attendant came to me and
said, "We have an H.R. on this flight." (H.R. stands for human remains.)

"Are they military?" I asked.

'Yes', she said.

'Is there an escort?' I asked.

'Yes, I already assigned him a seat'.

'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck? You can board him
early," I said

A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He
was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself
and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers
talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us

'My soldier is on his way back to Virginia ,' he said. He proceeded to
answer my questions, but offered no words.

I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I
told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I
appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen
soldiers.  The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his
hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.

We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an
uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call
from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I just found out the
family of the soldier we are carrying, is on board', she said She then
proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year old
daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family
was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier
was in before we left.  We were on our way to a major hub at which the
family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to
Virginia ..

The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son
was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was
too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight
attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see
him upon our arrival.
The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier
being taken off the airplane.. I could hear the desperation in the
flight attendants voice when she asked me if there was anything I could
do. 'I'm on it, I said. I told her that I would get back to her.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of
e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my
flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio There is a radio
operator in the operations control center who connects you to the
telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the
dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family and
what it was the family wanted.
He said he understood and that he would get back to me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going
to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a
text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the
dispatcher and the following is the text:

'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy
on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a
dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the
family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the
remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to
their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains
can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When
the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the
ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg
home.



Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans. Please pass our
condolences on to the family. Thanks.'

I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I
printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass
on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told
me, 'You have no idea how much this will mean to them.'

Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After
landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is
huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy
area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When
we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were
told that all traffic was being held for us.

'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft, we were told. It looked
like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the
seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family
from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the
copilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the
gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp
controller said, 'Take your time.'

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public
address button and said, 'Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain
speaking I have stopped short of our gate to make a special
announcement.
We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His
Name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private
XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army
Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and
daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain
in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank
you.'

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our
shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit
door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you
just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every
passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family
to exit the aircraft.

When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly
started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and
soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of 'God Bless You', 'I'm
sorry', 'thank you', 'be proud', and other kind words were uttered to
the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the
airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their
loved one.

Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I
had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and
over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.

I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the
sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our
freedom and safety in these United States of AMERICA ...


Foot note:

I know everyone who has served his/her country and/or loves this country
will have tears in his/her eyes; I do.

Consider this a prayer chain for our Military.... please don't break it!

Don't break it! They die for me and mine, you and yours, and deserve our
honor and respect.

Prayer:
'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they
protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they
perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'

Prayer Request:

There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address
book. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a
Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm's way, prayer
is the very best one.

GOD BLESS YOU!!!


Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO