T-Shirts, Blue Jeans, and The Great Creator
Photos By: Julie Horton
And God Said, “Let There Be…”
T-Shirts.
Oh, yes He did. And by far they are one of His greatest creations. Washing machines, too, but we’ll touch on that a little bit later. Cotton. Perfectly wonderful organic 100% cotton. ‘Nuff said, really, but let’s keep going anyway.
There’s just nothing in life that measures up to a really, really good t-shirt. Life simply wouldn’t be ….L I F E.… without it. They feel so good on our skin, and they feel so good fresh out of the dryer ready for folding. T-shirts are completely personality-encompassing and basically greet the whole world with a great big “what up?” without us even uttering a single word. All we’ve got to do is walk down the street and smile because on the inside we’re feeling so good and on the outside we’ve got a twinkle in our eyes. Some get it, some may not – but when we pick out a t-shirt, or one is picked out for us, the chosen ones totally represent.
And the colors and the artwork, logos and sassy words. And memories.
Yes, that’s what I said… and memories. This week we marked the day of February 2, 2022 off the calendar. That’s 02/02/22. Or, 2-2-22. And there were the social media posts …
First Grade Teachers!!! Have your students build a time capsule on 2-2-22 to open their senior year on 3-3-33!
Such a great idea. If I had a first grader, I would be all in. But today as I tidied up my son’s bedroom turned sorta-almost-we’re-gettin’-close-empty-nest-guestroom, it was the quilt that spoke right to me like the super-cool time capsule that it is and made my eyes totally twinkle and my smile bust right on out into the open.
Memory after memory after memory. I spotted the pre-k class shirt, the one with their sweet little self-portrait stick figures and names so proudly handwritten. Max, Kevin, and Griffin. J.Patrick, Emma, Trate, Lane, and Will (aka: Yee-yum… because a certain 4-year-old couldn’t say “William”). And their senior year t-shirts just a square or two away, which this little group celebrated together. Yes, 14 years of memories, 14 years together, and still counting. That’s one heck of a time capsule.
And Then God Said, “Let There Be…”
Blue jeans.
Yep, don’t doubt me. Because what else goes perfectly with heavenly soft, worn, comfie t-shirts? Jeans. Stonewashed, broken-in, faded cotton denim. So perfect you could sleep in them. Slightly cuffed with cute little feet and toes poking out. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive. Levi Strauss was a genius and the best thing you can possibly do for your littles is teach them this.
I know people thought I was crazy. “Just donate the stuff already, Julie. Why in the world are you keeping it all?” which of course came after, “do you know your son’s jeans have holes in them?”. Why yes, yes I do.
I also knew their destiny. One day my kids would be opening their t-shirt quilts on Christmas morning. They, too, will probably think I’ve lost my mind, but this won’t be the first time, and that’ll go away pretty quickly anyway because they’ll remember. They’ll unfold it, spread it out, touch the squares, and they’ll remember.
And then it was my turn and me and my favorite color raspberry-pink got busy because someday I’ll have a bunkroom for all my grandbabies and those beds are going to need t-shirt quilts. Note I said, “someday”. There’s no bunkroom yet. Heck, there’s not even a house. But someday there will be and in the meantime it’s all perfectly planned out right up here in my head. And in my soul. It’s beautiful.
There’s Camp Odyssey, swimteam, tie-dye, soccer, and pjs. Baseball, Tom Brown’s Rookie League, baseball, tennis, and marching band. And did I mention baseball? And faded, hole-y blue jeans. Thanksgiving pilgrims, powder-puff football cropped-tops, youth ministry, handprints and Rock & Roll Revival, Drama Club… it’s all there.
Now I’m not much of a sewer. But I can offer you this… if you can stitch a straight line and know how to replace sewing machine needles, you should be good. But if you don’t have things like a sewing machine and a big space to spread out, there are folks that can do this project for you and by the looks of Project Repat, they seem to make your part really, really easy. Go check them out and support an amazing business, and an even more amazing cause.
And After The Blue Jeans God Said, “Let There Be…”
Washing machines.
I wish I were kidding. But the sheer pro-active, forward-thinking, pre-planning of His almighty brilliance – of course… makes perfect sense! After giving us all of these little kids, He knew washing machines would just be a really good idea.
So when you think about these marvelous t-shirt quilt time capsules, those t-shirts and jeans got pretty crusty, more times than we can probably count. Alot of hot water and high heat, and they are still standing. And once stitched together and now headed off to college and parts unknown they’re going to live life on dorm beds, shoved into the backs of cars with stinky stale pool towels and nasty gym clothes, and smushed up in a ball on the couch with the remnants of Taco Tuesday and whatever else (I know eww… try not to think about this part too much). But then comes the weekly check-in and over the phone your sweet boy tells you how warm and comfortable that t-shirt blanket is on his bed…., and you smile because on the inside you’re feeling so good and on the outside you’ve got a twinkle in our eyes.
Oh and honey, it’s washable. Just throw it right in the machine with the rest of your laundry… Okay — I love you — make good choices! — bye!
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