As a Grandmother, with undying love for God and Country, I have sat helplessly by as so many brave men and women sacrificed their lives and limbs to fight for our country, our freedoms and the freedoms of others. I wanted to somehow show these military families they were not alone, but always in our hearts and prayers. I was so tormented with my thoughts at night as I laid down to sleep thinking..
. "I have no great monetary gifts to give nor do I have the strength to give much in the way of physical help". I truly believe God whispered to me and suddenly I had an idea - I would make soft, lovable teddy bears for newborn babies whose parents were deployed. So the search began for the "perfect" bear for those very special babies. Many books were read, patterns tried, nights of unrest and waking up at 3 am to try another pattern were had, but it wasn't until my son found a soft cuddly bear on sale at the airport on his way overseas, that the project took off. This little bear gave me the inspiration, I knew in my mind what I wanted to change and how I wanted the "Patriot Bear" to look. I started in ... adjusting and readjusting the idea in my mind until the very first "Patriot Bear" was stuffed and looking just right. I took my dream to the quilting ladies from my church and the excitement filtered through the ranks and soon small pieces of fabric were quickly donated to the project. This is my dream. I'm 72 years old and I love my country and all the men and women who have allowed me the great freedoms I have for myself and my family. For the past two centuries these men and women have allowed me to raise a family with the freedoms we have today. This is my way of giving a piece of my heart to each baby born from such an amazing caliber of "Patriots"! I hope you will share my dream.
