My whole heart jumped with compassion as I read your story. It is wonderful that love and hope continue to surround your congregation. My first quilt was a memorial quilt for my Mother. My brother died in June 2001. I kept my brother's shirts, from personal to work, his patches and badges from the military and his pillow case. I started the quilt with no idea how to do it - pure prayer and luck. I started the quilt on September 10, 2001. So, I worked on my quilt through the 9/11 tragedy. My brother served in the Army and US Coast Guard. He would have been there for his country, no questions asked. There were many tears running down my face as I pieced this quilt together. Tears for my brother and tears for my country and those that were victims of this terrorist act. All the memories your heart and mind remember as you quilt - all the tears, some laughter. I actually, added pictures of my brother onto the quilt too. I finished it by adding his badges, his medals, dog tags and a dog tag that reads, "Never Forget". It was too sentimental for my Mama, so she asked me to take care of it. When I moved into my new home, the first thing I hung up was a cross my Mother gave me, and then the quilt. I think of my brother, Vicente Jaime, everyday.