Countywide : Memories Stitched for AIDS Day

When Gladys Elliot began making a quilt panel in memory of her brother, Sergio Hernandez, she simply wanted to support the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt as an educational tool.

But as Elliot and her mother and sister began piecing together the 3-by-9-foot panel, the project developed into a sort of therapy.

“It was an emotional process,” Elliot said. “We were so burned out from caring for my brother when he was so sick and from his death. Making the quilt helped us to remember the happier times.”

Others want to bring attention on the need for more research on AIDS.

The approximately 40 panels expected to be dedicated at a World AIDS Day ceremony tonight at UC Irvine are not just the stories of those who have died of AIDS, but reflect those who were left behind.

The most notable feature of the panel made for Hernandez is an acoustic guitar, depicted in careful detail from the brand name to the frets.

“It had to be a guitar,” Elliot said. “That was him.”

Elliot described her brother as a talented musician who could coax a song out of anyone. Guitars were his passion, and he owned dozens.

Hernandez’s quilt panel was dedicated in June at Orange Coast College. Seeing how people were moved by it convinced Elliot that it was an important tool in reaching people.

“The quilt softens your heart and makes you aware that these men, women and children suffered and died all over a disease that is preventable,” she said.

Elliot is so impressed by the quilt’s power that she is making a panel for her brother and one for a friend who died recently. The new panels will be dedicated tonight and will stay with the Orange County chapter of the NAMES Project to be displayed locally.

“My heart broke when (the activities coordinator at Ocean View High School) asked for more quilts” for Latinos, Elliot said. “She mentioned that last year Hispanic kids broke down crying when they saw quilts with Hispanic names and faces. They told her they didn’t realize Hispanics get AIDS.”

Dick and Rose Lack chose a simple design for the panel they will dedicate tonight for their son, Randy.

“The main feature is this picture of Randy,” said Rose Lack.

The picture is an enlargement of a photo shot five weeks before Randy Lack died in March, 1992. He is standing in a field of yellow wildflowers, with mountains in the background.

Above the photo is his full name, Randall John Lack. On one side of the photo is his birth date, July 30, 1960, and on the other side is the day he died, March 23, 1992.

Along the bottom are the same words carved on his headstone: “You will always live in our hearts.”

“For me, the quilt was something we are doing together as a memorial for Randy,” Rose Lack said. “I want people to see a face and a name. He’s not just a statistic, he’s our son.”

Dedication of new quilt panels will take place during the World AIDS Day program at UC Irvine from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Crystal Cove Auditorium.

Other events include an art exhibit in the UCI student center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; a community forum at Newport Harbor Art Museum from 3 to 4 p.m. and a Mass at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange at 7:30 p.m.