My dad collects blood center t-shirts like they are candy. He is an apheresis donor and is in the blood center a few times a month when he’s home and they love to give him new shirts. A few years ago, I decided his wardrobe was getting a bit lopsided and so my sister in law and I thought we would create a new line of clothing for him–grandchildren tees. Finally, we have found something he likes to wear even more than the blood center shirts! And we can keep giving him new ones every single year because the kids keep growing!
Last year, he presented me with a challenge: he called and said that for the 2008 shirt, he wanted all five (at that time) grandchildren on one shirt. The problem was that not all five grandchildren had been in the same state, let alone the same picture (we were in California, then Florida; my brother was in Vermont). He airily said, “Oh, you can come up with something, head shots or something like that.” Which immediately put me in mind of sorority collages. I came up with a nice layout, actually, and cannot seem to find it on my computer (could be anywhere at this point)–long vertical strips and we did use head shots.
Apparently, of all of his fantastic grandchildren tees, this is the one that gets the most comments, so this year, he asked for another composite shirt even though all six grandchildren were in the same state and house for a week! So one night after dinner I pulled all the kids out on the back porch, sat them down next to the grill (yes, the grill) and got their head shots. And here is this year’s shirt (we joke that I have to put the names on for when my dad is old and senile):
The funny thing to me is that although we did take a picture of all six children together, I much prefer these because at this age it’s a lot easier to get one child to look instead of all six together. I will say that the baby was probably the most cooperative for the group picture!
by robin cornett
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