From Tyler Garrett
Creston
My name is Tyler Garrett. I live in Creston, Iowa, and have a great story on an act of kindness. I was one of the tornado victims that lived by the hospital in Creston and lost my home. My town home was destroyed and although I wasn’t hurt, I did lose a lot of my possessions. One really important sentimental possession of mine was a quilt that my grandmother made for me. While looking for the debris and to see what to salvage on Sunday (the day after the storm), I was unable to find this quilt. Possessions are just possessions, but this was a very special gift from my grandmother. She made all her grandchildren quilts, and I have had this quilt for years and was certain that it was lost forever.
This past Tuesday, my mother received a phone call from a retired school teacher asking if she knew a Tyler Garrett. My mother stated, “yes,” and then the retired teacher told her “Well, I have something that belongs to Tyler.” My grandmother had her name on the quilt and also had my name on it, as she made this quilt for me. My mother immediately went over to the location and didn’t even bother to ask the teacher’s name. When my mother went over there, she realized that the couple who found it was volunteers at the hospital gift shop that my mother previously worked at.
The retired school teacher stated that her husband found this quilt on Monday (April 23) in a shape of a basketball, along his fence line in their field by their house. Their house is approximately three miles away from my town home. Her husband went ahead and picked it up, as it was covered with mud and soaked from the rain. Her husband brought it up to the house and the teacher (who makes quilts, as well) knew exactly what to do with this quick. Without hesitation, she spread me quilt out and hand washed it twice, using cold water and a touch of dawn dish soap. The teacher told her husband that she was going to try and find the owner, no matter how (long) it took. As she was showing her daughter this quilt, that is when they noticed in the corner of the quilt on the back side, there was a name saying, “Harriet Garrett made this quilt for Tyler Garrett.” The teacher didn’t recognize the name at the time, so she just looked up the last name in the phonebook and starting calling around.
She finally got a hold of my mother, and my mother rushed over to get this.
The crazy part about this story is that the quilt had to have been sucked up in the tornado and carried over to this field, which is again northwest of my town home by three miles. It was stuck along this fence line of this couple’s house. The fact that my mother and the teacher didn’t realize who each other was, until my mother went to pick up the quilt.
How many people would have even attempted to not only (to) clean the quilt, but also be willing to find the owner? This was a great act of kindness that will never be forgotten by me. The one item in my house that I sorely missed is now reunited with me and is in great condition, as the day I received it from my grandmother.