Christmas, 1996

Dear Friends,

As you may know, our son Randy died of AIDS on July 27, 1995. It has been a sad and mournful year and a half for us. We are thankful for the caring and compassionate friends and relatives who have seen us through this time.

When Randy was ill, he asked me to have an AIDS quilt made for him. Of course, I said I would. Last December, I purchased the material with the intention of starting Randy's quilt, but I couldn't get myself to do it. Sometime in January, our Teen AIDS Task Force (an awareness group of students at Ilion HighSchool, where I work and Randy attended) planned a Names Project Display and asked if they could make a quilt for Randy. Needless to say, I was thrilled and they used my material and ideas.

The students, their advisor Ms. Karen Anderson, Randy's Sister Tami, her children Carly and Jocelyn, Randy's Aunt Donna, and I, put together the panel and Mrs. Nancy Anderson of Ilion, a "master quilter", lovingly sewed it into the beautiful panel it is.

The design of the quilt was born of Randy's love of Christmas and the trimming of the tree.

The ornaments on the tree contain pictures of Randy and his cat, Tech, who may also be seen peeking around the tree trunk, the family together on a Christmas Day, Randy and his nieces, and a picture with his Mom and Dad. The star at the top is a picture of Randy placing an ornament on one of his trees.

There is a sun for his love of said S-U-N and a heart because he was a loving S-0-N! The Jack-O-Lantern is there because he enjoyed Halloween and the fun of masquerading. The saxophone for his love of music. The clasping hands portray his feeling of brotherhood and love to all mankind.

The Hobart pendant was found among Randy's belongings. He graduated from there with a B.S. degree in Science. He pursued a career in safety engineering and ,at the time of his death, was employed by Reliance Insurance Company, as a Regional Loss Control Manager, for Large Accounts on the West coast.

The gifts from his family beneath the tree, along with his favorite Teddy Bear, represent the cities where he lived, during his too short 38 years.

The panel was dedicated, in March, at the Ilion High School Names Project Display and forwarded to San Francisco, where it was sewed into the larger quilt. Randy's panel was displayed in Washington, D.C. on October 11-13, this year, along with the other 37,472 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

If you should ever have the chance to view any of the memorial quilt, please do. It is a moving experience, to realize so many young people have needlessly been taken from us, in the prime of their lives. Randy's panel may be requested by any group sponsoring a display. Just ask for Randy Steele quilt block number 4155.

We love Randy and miss him more than words can say. We hope, by our part in Randy's panel, we can educate people, especially the young, and spread the awareness of this monstrous killer, the HIV-AIDS virus.

We wanted to share Randy and his panel, with you, and we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and Happy New Year.

Love,

Carol Jane Steele