I’m getting ready to leave for Quilting for Good at G Street. This is where I met your mother almost two years ago. I am a new quilter and Ginny helped me complete a “pillowcase” quilt — my first quilt! I am a regular there, and though I have yet to “complete” my first real quilt, I have been part of a legacy Ginny and Prue began making & donating baby quilts to Mary’s Center in DC. I now also make premie quilts for the NICU at Holy Cross Hospital, along with crochet caps (tiny ones).

The last time I saw Ginny we compared hand-made shopping bags — her’s an older one and mine was one I had just made; and talked about the tiny caps we both make.

Please know that many thoughts and prayers are being shared on your behalf. The legacy that your parents have left will continue to touch the lives of others through the lives that they had touched.

Sharing the Journey,
Mary Ellen

Be strong, your parents live on in you.

Anne

My heart goes out to both of you and your families as you try to make sense of the terrible atrocity that befell your parents. I taught with your mom for many years at Green Acres and have been to their home a number of times for quilting, and so I knew her better than your dad, though I saw him off and on over the years.

I knew that they were both involved in good works but did not realize the full extent of their community commitments until the recent Post articles and the beautiful service last Saturday. What a wonderful tribute it was to two people so dedicated to living their values every day. And they went about helping others and caring for the environment in a most unpretentious, gentle way, never bringing attention to themselves. Truly, they were beacons of hope and light in a dark world- and role models for us all.

I have been the recipient of your mom’s quilting endeavors on two occasions. When my husband died seven years ago, your mom made a square for a group quilt made in his memory. This quilt, placed in my living room where I can view it everyday, is a symbol of caring friendship that has meant so much to me during the healing process. Then two years ago upon my retirement, I was presented with a gorgeous applique quilt commemorating my time at Green Acres. I particularly cherish square your mom made for me of a beautiful butterfly, linking our mutual interest in nature.

A month ago, I had lunch at your parents’ cozy home when the Sage group from Green Acres gathered. Your mom served lovely soups, homemade breads and delicious desserts. I was impressed that some of the vegetables in the soups came from their summer garden. In the midst of all her other endeavors, she found time for cooking and friendship.

And then I saw her more recently with you, Leah, at the Needle Chasers quilt show. I was so pleased to have a chance to chat with you and meet your little cutie, Ziggy. You all looked so happy and contented. She was definitely thrilled to be a grandma.

Your parents were the most selfless, nonviolent people imaginable, constantly showing their love for others by giving to the community in myriad ways. You will continue to grapple with this incredibly tragic loss to your lives for some time to come. I ask, as I have in the past, why do bad things happen to such good people? We just don’t know; it is part of the mystery of life. Perhaps these words, which I think describe your parents, will be of some comfort to you:

“Death is not life’s goal, only life’s terminus. The goal is to live in such a way that our lives will prove worth dying for. This is where love comes into the picture. The one thing that can’t be taken from us, even by death, is the love we give away before we go.” – The Rev. Forrest Church, “Love and Death”

Please know that my thoughts are with you during this difficult time of loss.

Much love,
Anne Fretz

We haven’t seen each other in 18 years, and I did not know your parents. But, having read the article in the Post and these comments, I can see what wonderful people they were and how big an impact they had on those around them whose lives they touched. While their passing was tragic, their living was an inspiration.

Best,

Dave Weinstein

I chair a community group called Climate Action Project that got started at Politics and Prose bookstore early in 2006, and I met Ginny and Michael through it. They were among the staunchest core members. Ginny had been to meetings at my house, and was planning to invite the group to tour her house as an example of how to reduce one’s carbon footprint.

There are not words to express the shock and loss we feel now. Words can’t do justice to it. But I believe they would both prefer that we look ahead and keep trying to take actions for the causes they dedicated themselves to.

We are thinking about setting up some sort of living, ongoing memorial – perhaps an annual award in their names to the DC person/group that has done the most to promote sustainable energy or (more generally) environment. The group will meet next on December 13 and we’ll talk then about this.

We don’t want to duplicate what others might already be doing, though. Can you tell me if there are any other plans for any such thing? Or if not plans, at least ideas? Perhaps your thoughts would help us move in the most appropriate direction for this sort of thing.

Thanks and warm wishes,
John Macgregor

As Steve Robertson said so eloquently in the meditation he gave at the memorial service, the example of Ginny’s life calls us all to a higher order of existence, a deeper commitment to live lives of love and caring for our fellow beings. This is not an a reproachful way; after all, as Paul wrote in Corinthians, love is never boastful. Ginny’s extraordinary gifts, and the example of her and Mike’s service to those so much less fortunate, are rather to us as Christ was to his disciples — saying, in effect, “Come — follow me.”

God bless all the Spevak family, and please know how fervently we hold you in our hearts and prayers.

From November 2004 – August 2008, I worked at Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church in DC as the youth minister. For the past two years, Ginny worked as a regular volunteer at our weekly programs for 6th-grade – 12th grade youth. She led games, facilitated discussions, came to New Orleans on a work trip with us in 2007, and helped us in much of the planning for those two years. As someone who had often had trouble getting adult volunteers to help with youth programs, Ginny was literally an answer to prayer for both me and my successor, Jennifer Griffin (who spoke briefly at the November 29 service), the current youth minister who is a close friend of mine.

On November 30 at Emory United Methodist Church (where I have served as senior pastor since July 2008) in Upperco, Maryland, I spoke about Ginny and Mike, and how much they had positively affected my work and my life.

Ginny was an unsolicited volunteer almost every week with the church youth. She proved that age is no barrier to working with young people, and she developed a close rapport with several of them, many of whom are having difficulty in the grieving process. There is no one I can think of who could serve as a more positive role model for youth and adults than Ginny did. All of us are better people for having known her and for having been supported by her.

I did not know Mike as well, but I remember the graduation dinner he attended with Ginny for one of our 2008 high school seniors. He was a wonderful presence for the event.