LifeQs
Stuart Garcia
Kay McAnally
When my mother told me that Stuart's name was going to be on the magnificent quilt that would name each victim of AIDS by name, I think she felt the same kind of comfort those parents of fallen soldiers feel when they are presented with the flag that was draped across their coffin. She was a speaker at the Washington DC spreading of the quilt and I am forever grateful to whomever arranged that she participate in that. The quilt and its memorial to my brother and other people who had died from AIDS was a great comfort to my mother.
I wish I could say that the quilt did the same for me. Although I deeply appreciated the embroidered dove , the symbol of peace that so many people associated with my brother Stuart, the quilted space seemed to minimize his life - it made him just one of hundreds of people. To me, Stuarts memory was too big to fit onto a square of a quilt.
I wish I could say that the quilt did the same for me. Although I deeply appreciated the embroidered dove , the symbol of peace that so many people associated with my brother Stuart, the quilted space seemed to minimize his life - it made him just one of hundreds of people. To me, Stuarts memory was too big to fit onto a square of a quilt.
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Mark Bauman
Stuart's square in the AIDS quilt, and all of the adjacent squares, remind me just how much human capacity we lost in that horrible epidemic. There is no doubt in my mind that if the medical establishment had responded sooner, Stuart would have gone on to do many more extraordinary things, and that he would have enriched the lives of the people he loved in countless ways.
Steven Waldman
Here is a second AIDS quilt made by a Catholic spiritual community in NYC
Steven Waldman
I saw it on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Each square was laid out with small strips of grass in between so you could walk from patch to patch. It took a long time to find it and when I first saw it I immediately felt a knot in my stomach. I dont actually know who made this. Does anyone out there know? Stuart's little corner struck me, of course, as completely insufficient (as it must for everyone who sees a loved one there). But it actually kind of captured his spirit -- an idealist, a globalist, and a sweetie.