In keeping with my theme this week of “New Beginnings” I must share this with you.
I remember my mother-in-law wearing her t-shirts all the time.  She never, and I mean never, got rid of her t-shirts.  I can recall her having some of her shirts for over twenty plus years.  They were from the familiar places we would always vacation as a family.  The frequented spots were Little Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande, Pirates Cove Marina, and Fort Pierce.
Jany always had a knack for keeping things organized and getting rid of what she (or the family) really needed or not needed to hold on to.  So why hold on to t-shirts that had holes and paint all over them? Oh…I know…Memories!
When she passed away last June, the house sold rather quickly, so we had to go through her belongs while emotions were still very fragile.  Those holey ole painted up t-shirts were a few of the clothing items that we just couldn’t bear to get rid of.
It wasn’t long after they had been sitting in mine and Tim’s bedroom that I called my friend, Sunni, up to see if she could do something with them.  I knew I didn’t need them until Christmas, so she had plenty of time to put her creative thoughts together.
Well, boy did she!  Sunni, with Simply Sunni Designs, went beyond what I could have imagined.  In my mind I just knew that I wanted her to create pillows out of the t-shirts and a summer dress with pink roses. (The dress represented Jany’s taste perfectly.) When I received the phone call, before Christmas, that the pillows were ready, I quickly arranged a time for me to go get them.
The t-shirts were not just “holey ole painted up t-shirts” anymore, they were works of art!
Sunni had carefully cut around the designs and mixed the vacation spots all up.  One pillow didn’t represent just one local, but a touch of the others as well. She left about a half inch on the outside of the stitching around the designs so that in time the pillows will look more vintage.  Jany would love it!
As soon as I spilled them out on the bed for Tim to view, I knew which one his eyes would go to first.  The one with the large white and pink sailfish stitched on it.  That had to be one of Jany’s favorites.  She wore that shirt all the time!  Tim’s eyes and smile gave me the approval that I needed.
Then, a couple of days before Christmas, my father-in-law, Wayne, was over.  I whispered to Tim that we need to show Wayne the pillows now so that, (1) he can choose his two pillows first, and (2) he can get some emotions out of the way before I just gave them out to all at Christmas.
Wayne had no idea what we had done.  I gave him a little speech before I displayed all the pillows, and then I dumped them all out of the bag and began turning them over for him to see.  His eyes went straight to the while and pink sailfish shirt and said, “That’s the one.”  (Ugh, my eyes are tearing up just typing this now.)
Again, by the look in his eyes and the emotions that came out, I felt that we had his approval on what was done.
But that’s not all…Todd’s approval mattered.  Well, we got it through tears and smiles.
Before Christmas night was over at our home with the Shuff family, one of the youngest granddaughters said, “I’m going to go change my clothes and snuggle up with grandmama to watch tv.”  Again…approval.  My heart melted.
Jany knew what dirty, holey, painted up clothes to get rid of, and she knew which to hold onto.  We now have her memories to “hold on to”.
Thanks, Sunni, for creating such beautiful pillows.  Each design brings back a fun family memory of vacations past.
Blessings and God’s abundant love to y’all!