Tough as Nails

the story of my 40 yr old t-shirt

One Spring day, circa 1985, a little family of four trots down the road to Gatlinburg, TN, for a family vacation. It’s a little strip of road full of side shows, trinkets you’ll never use, pulled taffy and air brushed everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. License plate holders, key chains, shoes, hairbows, and yes, t-shirts. There are thousands of people on the walkway, looking and talking and laughing and being all around excited by the sights, sounds, and endless possibilities of spending money.

I can’t imagine any family going there willingly with small children. And I *think* that’s what my parents did. I can’t imagine anywhere else I would’ve gotten this air brushed t-shirt. It’s a thick cotton material, heathered blue that looks like old jeans, with dark blue trim around the arms and neck like a baseball shirt. It SCREAMS 80’s and says: Tough as Nails. Basically, it’s the signature of Gatlinburg, TN.

This little shirt is a size 3t, so I had to be 4 yrs old at the most, which means my brother was barely 2. And while I don’t remember getting the shirt, the stories I remember from my parents are that dad got it for me. Did he come up with the phrase or just see it already made? Dunno. Either way, dad got me - this little blond haired shy girl who was afraid of everything - a shirt that says, “Tough as Nails.”

Irony.

This has to be where I learned the art of irony.

This shirt was mine and I wore it a lot. As soon as I outgrew it, my snuggly stuffy Boo Bear wore it. Then I went to college, and I left him and the t-shirt at home with my “things to keep for when I grow up.”

Fast forward through two college degrees, marriage, divorce, a few moves, a chronic illness, one last marriage and the birth of my son - it showed up again. Mom went through the stash of “things to save for Sybil when she has a kid” and there it was. Safely stored…on my brother’s favorite monkey???

I guess Boo Bear and Monkey got into a tuffle about who got to wear it and Monkey won?

Finder’s keepers.

I took it home, washed it, and saved it in Dylan’s “when he’s big enough to wear this” box. In 2021. I wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to wear it, but I knew if he did get big enough to wear it, he would be a warrior and represent the slogan well.

The time is now. It now fits. I mean, it’s kinda baggy, but that’s the style now, right?

This shirt is no longer irony. It is rock solid truth. This kid is tough as nails.

We just got home from his *fingers crossed* last surgery (well, for the foreseeable future). He had a few procedures to open up his airway and try out a cap for his trach, to see if he’s ready to breathe through his own airway.

Turns out, he is.

So, he walks out of his bedroom this morning, breathing ALL ON HIS OWN WITH HIS OWN AIRWAY, beaming from ear to ear, over-the-moon excited to eat breakfast at home like it’s the biggest event of his life...wearing THE shirt. His nurse follows right behind him saying, “I found this one and thought this was the perfect shirt for him today.”

Tears in my eyes, yes, yes it is. Tough as nails, that kid.

I now know, that I, too, am tough as nails.

Being Dylan’s parent is amazing. The hard part is navigating the medical system, coordinating a team 21 deep, and taking care of myself so that I can be tough as nails for him when he needs it. Four years into parenting a kid with extra medical needs is showing me what I’m made of.

Thanks, dad, for the shirt. Turns out, you were right. It wasn’t irony after all.