This week I want to tell you about a T-shirt that we are dubbing the Faith Family T-Shirt.
This T-shirt was a gift from my best friend. It belonged to her son (our godson) Casey. She gave it to me as my special remembrance of Casey. You see, Casey passed away from soft tissue sarcoma more than two years ago. I had the privilege of helping care for him when he was undergoing treatment at MD Anderson in Houston. He wore this T-shirt frequently. Shortly after he passed was when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I took this T-shirt with me into my own surgery. I also wore it afterwards. It made drain tubes easier to deal with because the arms were torn off. It had been put away until recently when we got it out again for my husband.
David wanted to take the T-shirt into his own surgery for kidney cancer. What makes this T-shirt so special? Well, first it represents the friendship that our two families have shared for almost 30 years. Second, it belonged to Casey. It brought him comfort, it brought me comfort, and it brought David comfort during times when we all needed some hope. Third, the words on the T-shirt are the most quoted scripture from the Bible and Casey’s favorite: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”— John 3:16 The numbers of hope on the front and the words of hope on the back. As my husband successfully went through the removal of a kidney this past week those words on the T-shirt once again sustained us through a difficult time. They reminded us that God’s love is always hopeful because of the gift of his Son.
Keeping God close, always present, was something that got me through my own cancer journey and I did not want to give up that spiritual practice. So I have made the effort ever since to keep God’s love close whatever the circumstance. This past week it took the form a much beloved T-shirt.
—Carm Russell
