On February 15th 2023, I found a Quilted Heart outside the public restrooms of Matagorda Beach. This is how I found it and this is what it means to me.
So I’m a military veteran, just recently moved to the area after separating from the Armed Forces. It’s been pretty challenging to adapt to civilian life after about 10 years of Active Duty service. I found myself struggling with service-related health conditions, which ultimately landed me in the emergency room a month ago. Completely uninsured and without a real job, I’ve been struggling with the astronomical costs of the hospital visit while also trying to deal with my medical conditions. It was a real culture shock.
But I didn’t go down without a fight. I’ve been making healthy eating choices, staying physically fit, and I’ve taken to running on the local beach. Every few days I head out to the Matagorda Beach, rain or shine. And I just run on the shore. I run as far as I can. And every day I try to go a little bit further. Every day I try to be better than who I was yesterday, and I’ve run so far that I can barely see them anymore.
I was heading to the beach for another run on probably the gloomiest of days; the sky was overcast and it’s been raining intermittently throughout the day. I was on the phone with my mom, we were talking about Beanie Babies. I was about to let her go when I noticed this Quilted Heart hanging outside the public restroom and I immediately moved in to inspect it.
It was unlike anything I’ve seen before. And when I read the tag out loud, I became excited; I had no idea a site like this even existed but the concept was so touching. My mom looked it up on her end and we were both talking about what a neat thing this was. I remember feeling so moved that someone would.. take the time to make something like this. It felt really special. And as you can tell from the design in the photograph, it’s very thematic for a beach setting. It just felt so lovingly crafted (it even came with a cute little seahorse!), and it’s inspired me to learn how to make these myself so I can post them outside of public beach restrooms, too.
So thank you so much to whoever made this. Your Quilted Heart fell into the hands of a hopeful veteran and avid beach runner. This act of kindness encourages me to stay on the path I’m currently on. Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart.
