Expressions of gratitude and a general air of honor filled the Jerome Brown Community Center as Brooksville dignitaries, veterans and their families came together on Veterans’ Day, November 11, 2020. Several community leaders spoke of their service and how Veterans continue to protect our country and way of life.
But such honorable service sometimes requires being involved with war and witnessing terrible crimes against humanity.
Presentations of Quilts of Valor were by the Nature Coast Quilters Guild. Quilts of Valor are quilts of a designated size with particular patterns suitable for their recipient. The Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) was formed in 2003, when founder Catherine Roberts’ son was deployed in Iraq.
According to the QOVF website, the foundation “began with a dream, literally a dream … The dream was as vivid as real life. I saw a young man sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over. The permeating feeling was one of utter despair. I could see his war demons clustered around, dragging him down into an emotional gutter. Then, as if viewing a movie, I saw him in the next scene wrapped in a quilt. His whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and well-being. The quilt had made this dramatic change. The message of my dream was: Quilts = Healing.”
