Thanksgiving Journal: Thank you for Tiny T-Shirts

 Ok, yeah...I know...tiny t-shirts?  What is that all about?  Well... it doesn't have anything to do with losing weight.  I can assure you of that.

See, what happened was, the other night, Dylan came to me with a weird questions.  He was like, "Mom, does Dad have any old jersey?"  I gave him my usual reply when he comes into my office and interrupts me with one of his famous bits of randomness.  I said: "WHAT?"

So, he proceeded to explain that on Saturday, our High School's football team has a REALLY important game at the university's stadium.  They are playing our archrival, Grove City for a division title.  And, apparently, the Slippery Rock kids are going to wear jerseys...who knows...don't ask me.

I told him, well, yeah...no...Dad doesn't have any old jerseys, BUT, I remembered Grant had a really nice Penguins Sidney Crosby jersey that I got for him a while ago.  In my mind, I could still see Grant wearing that jersey.  It was kind of big on him when I got it, and Dylan never really got to wear it because he was still way too little when it didn't fit Grant anymore, and we kind of put it away and forgot about it.  So that night, I was on a mission to find it.  

While at it, I found a Hines Ward and a Troy Polamalu's that were also Grant's and Dylan never got to wear.  They still fit him, but we were both now just obsessed on finding the Sidney Crosby one.  We found a Roberto Clemente also, but again, we just needed to find the stupid Penguin's...so Dylan climbed on something and grabbed a basket that was full to the brim with what looked like t-shirts neatly rolled and stored together.

I sort of remembered collecting a bunch of Dylan's old t-shirts that he had grown out of a while back.  Those had survived the Goodwill bag because they held some kind of special meaning I couldn't remember at that moment. I hadn't looked at them in years.  Well, he pulled the first one out of the basket, and unrolled it...and to both of our amazement, it was so tiny!  We couldn't hold our surprise!  It must have been like no more than 10 inches tall!  It was so cute!!  It was so precious...so he kept unrolling more, each of them tinier than the other...and each one with a story...he could recall a memory with every tiny t-shirt...sigh...  

It was such a moment we shared.  I couldn't contained my emotions.  And right there, tucked in at the bottom of the basket...there it was...the Sidney Crosby jersey...all 10 or 12 inches of it...I could NOT believe how small that jersey was.  

I know my boys are not little kids anymore...but seeing those tiny t-shirts and that jersey which in my mind still fit Grant very loosely and never fit Dylan...now looking like it would fit only a doll...was a reality check.  Where has time gone?

I had many emotions flooding my heart at that moment, but the strongest one was gratitude.  I was so grateful for that collection of tiny t-shirts because they represent the blessing of having seen my sons go from babies to young men and that is a gift I would never take for granted...I would never not be thankful for.  

We walked out of Dylan's room in silence.  

Later, I remembered I have an official Panama soccer jersey at work and I agreed to bring it home so he can wear it.  It's an adult size so it fits him.  It's also red, so it matches Slippery Rock High School colors...problem solved...but...I praised God for the time looking for the jersey and finding a bundle of blessings.  In Christ's Precious Name.  Amen!