Dear RCTQrs, Late summer seems like a good time to open up the HUG list once again for new members. The past several months have brought many changes to the list, and to RCTQ. We have a lot of new posters (big welcome, all!!!), and a number of HUGgers have had to drop out of being on the list for awhile until life catches up. It doesn't mean they care less about the people who need a HUG, and it is very understandable, reasonable, and wise for them to take a time out from a few things. I know we've all been there at some time or another. We have also lost some HUGgers due to change of email that didn't get passed on to me. This is also very understandable, and I know we've all been there too! This past two months I've had 6 or 8 people to delete due to permanent, fatal errors on their email address. If you think you are on the list, but haven't heard from me in the last couple months, you might want to check with me to make sure. Anybody at all can join the HUG list, no skill level is too simple for a HUG quilt. If you are a member of RCTQ, and you care about others, you can join. It's that simple. What is a HUG? A HUG is a quilt that will do it's job for us (hugging) when we can't be there with our suffering fellow-member. All the blocks are made, signed with your screen-name, and sent to the HUG hostess - - the one who initiated making the quilt and sent the invitation out through me to all the HUGgers. The HUG is them assembled and, if at all possible, hand-delivered to the recipient. If no one lives near enough to work that out, the HUG will be shipped. Why is there a separate list? Why not just do it through the newsgroup? Well, the most obvious reason is in order to keep it a surprise. Many times the recipient is not so bad off that they are no longer posting. In fact, most of this group would indeed have to be in a near-death situation to stop posting! (grin) The second reason for a separate list is that not every RCTQ member is able to participate in these, and it keeps the newsgroup uncluttered with all of our HUG invitations and and follow-up communication. This is all done through private email. AND I DO MEAN PRIVATE! I do not give out personal information about the HUG list. Who is eligible for a HUG? Almost without exception, HUGs are limited to being for members who are dealing with a great deal of suffering of some kind. Loss of loved one, the suffering of chronic disease, long-term or painful therapies, lost everything in a fire........ you get the idea. When a real hug from all your supporters is needed, but yet we can't be there for them, so we send a HUG quilt to express our condolences or comfort. The exception to the HUGs for suffering are the HUGs for rejoicing, like marriage or a baby for instance. Now - - in between these types of HUGs there are a range of other things for which a HUG might be made by us for a member. If you want to host a HUG, but you aren't sure if the circumstances warrant such a move, please just email me and we will discuss the person's situation and the best way to touch their lives with our love. A lot of HUGs have been made by this group, for a lot of reasons. If it's on your heart, it's probably warranted! What does a HUG do for the person who gets it? Here I will quote dear Miss Sairey, one of our members who received one.
"A HUG is bits of fabric put together with love and understanding -- and sometimes, a serious case of stitching-out-the-pain, for some of us who cannot BE there to administer the real, personal HUGs. A HUG is one way (sometimes the only way we have, in this chunk of cyber-space, this big quilting bee many of us have depended on in ways we can never fully explain) to put our arms around someone (and each other); to reach out and say "I wish I could be there with/for you, in person, but I can't, and this will just have to do, at least for now." A HUG wraps the Absolute Caring that goes on in this newsgroup into a tangible package for someone to touch, and feel, and cuddle down into when times are tough. Sometimes, a HUG is all we have, when words aren't enough. Now, don't think for an instant that HUGs are ALL sadness and tragedy. Not by a long shot, they aren't. There's almost always a lot of LAUGHTER stitched into each HUG, and a lot of shared good-times. Lots of puns get worked into many of the HUG-blocks, and lots of the things we've just LEARNED about each other, from time to time. Lots of rainbows and butterfly wings and sunshine and flowers and just downright-silly-giggles, too. There is an astonishing amount of POWER in a HUG, folks. Lightning and thunder and some really sharp edges and planes. Anger, sometimes, in a HUG. A good, clean kind of anger. A HUG is for Friendship and Family. A HUG helps with fear and pain. A HUG is for Laughter and good times and spinning around the room in a happy-dance. A HUG is all the things quilters do, for all the reasons they do the things they do. But mostly, quilters do what they do because they CARE so very deeply, and simply understand the perfect beauty of a HUG, so the quilters here on RCTQ just HUG, from time to time."
(wiping a small tear) I can't put it any better than this. She took the time to think about what a HUG does for anyone who would receive it, and she wrote it out for us some time back. How to join the HUG list? Send me a private email with your screen name and correct, de-spammed email address. You can protect it from being read as it travels by spelling it out like this: hicall at earthlink dot net. The spammers can't harvest that, but my wee brain can interpret it. And let me repeat, if you think you are on it but haven't heard from me in the last few weeks, you need to contact me to make sure. Now last but not least. If something I have said in this message has put your knickers in a twist, PLEASE - - re-read the entire message tomorrow and see if your issue is truly an issue or not. The intent of this post is a general missive and invitation to join, with provision made for further definition by private email with those who wish to host a HUG. Thanks for your patience in reading this, and I hope to see many new ones on the list soon!
Karen, Queen of Squishies and keeper of the HUG list