The yellow shirt

[judy]

The yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away. ‘You’re not taking that old thing, are you???? Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt. ‘I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!’

It’s just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!’ I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt became a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it. After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.

The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois . But that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 15 years earlier.


That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her ‘real’ gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again.

The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad’s to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt!

And so the pattern was set...


On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad’s mattress. I don’t know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp. The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.

In 1975 my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois . As I packed, a deep depression overtook me.. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort. In Ephesians, I read, ‘So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will be standing up.’

I tried to picture myself wearing God’s armor, but all I saw was the stained yellow shirt. Slowly, it dawned on me. Wasn’t my mother’s love a piece of God’s armor? My courage was renewed.

Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.

Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet. Something new had been added. Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words ‘I BELONG TO PAT.’

Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters. Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, ‘I BELONG TO PAT’S MOTHER.’ But I didn’t stop there. I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington, VA We enclosed an official looking letter from ‘The Institute for the Destitute,’ announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds. I would have given anything to see Mom’s face when she opened the box. But, of course, she never mentioned it.

Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend’s garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. Inside a pocket was a note: ‘Read John 14:27-29. I love you both, Mother.’

That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: ’I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you againIf you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I amI have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me.’

The shirt was Mother’s final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.

I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I’m glad I didn’t, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.

[Tiramisu]

Thanks Judy. I need to find something like that to start with my daughters!

[DianaB]

I've read this before but it's so good that I don't mind reading it again.

When Beanie Babies were popular I bought a cat named Scat and a goose named Lucy on the same day for my daughter, Jaci. My husband and Jaci have played a hiding game with them ever since. One of them hides them together then when the other one finds them they are to hide them for the other one. It's gone on for years. Scat and Lucy recently appeared in our closet among my husband's clothes. I guess it's his turn to hide them now. Personally, I think that it's really cute!

[gja1000]

What a wonderful story - thanks so much for sharing it!!!

[Shada]

I love this story..

[Marilyn]

This is such a totally cool story. Makes us wish we had a yellow shirt with history to hide at our daughter's home.

[Janet]

This is one I've never read and I loved it. Thanks Judy...sure wish my mom and I could have done something like that.

[judy]

My daughter and I share a few things. We also give stuff back and forth - nothing like in the story, but I love the sense of connection we have when it comes to sharing.

We also have quite a few valuable or sentimental things that we have created
family heirlooms out of. A few were even my mothers. I just gave Jessie the lovely set of Rosenthal china that was my mothers, and her silverware, plus some valuable silver pieces. The family engagement ring was my mother's, her mother's and may have even belonged to my grandmother's mother as earrings. Jessie has it now, and will give it to her kids.

I also love to give Jessie's stuff to the children. My little Kassidy is waiting for Jessie's doll house furniture when she gets her good dollhouse. My oldest, Mackenzie never wanted one. Some of the dollhouse miniatures were also my mothers.

I think giving gifts while I'm alive is more fun than just leaving them for her when I'm gone.

[Gina]

Judy what a heartwarming story, I never read that before . Thanks for sharing.

[HALEY]

Judy, that was a good story

[Nina]

I love that story!