I have seen this one before, but it's always a pleasant one to
read.  Thanks for sharing, Virgie.
Dave
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "VIRGIE UNDERWOOD" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 12:14 AM
Subject: Yellow shirt


Hi,
I thought some of you might enjoy this message.
Virgie and Hoshi

This is the 3rd time in the past few years that I have recieved
the "Yellow Shirt" email. I think it is cool. J.
The baggy yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in 
black
thread and snaps up the front.  It was faded from years of wear, but still 
in decent
shape.  I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, 
rummaging
through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away.  "You're not taking that 
old thing,
are you?" Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt.  "I wore that 
when I
was pregnant with your brother in 1954!"
 "It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class,
 Mom.  Thanks!"  I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The 
yellow
shirt be came a part of my college wardrobe.  I loved it. After graduation, 
I wore
the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings 
when I cleaned.
The next year, I married.  When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt 
during
big-belly days.  I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in 
Colorado
and they were in Illinois
..  But that shirt helped.  I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it 
when she
was pregnant, 15 years earlier.
That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I 
patched one
elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom.  When Mom wrote to 
thank me
for her "real" gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely.  She never 
mentioned
it again.
The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick 
up some
furniture.  Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed 
something yellow
taped to its bottom.  The shirt!
And so the pattern was set.
On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's 
mattress.
I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years 
passed before
I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp.  The yellow 
shirt was
just what I needed now while refinishing furniture.  The walnut stains added 
character.
In 1975 my husband and I divorced.  With my three children, I prepared to 
move back
to Illinois.  As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I 
could make
it on my own.   I wondered if I would find a job.  I paged through the 
Bible, looking
for comfort.  In Ephesians, I read, "So use every piece of God's armor to 
resist
the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will b e 
standing up."
I tried to picture myself wearing God's armor, but all I saw was the stained 
yellow
shirt.  Slowly, it dawned on me.  Wasn't my mother's love a piece of God's 
armor?
My courage was renewed.
Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. 
The next
time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.
Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station.  A year later I discovered 
the
yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet. Something new had 
been added.
Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words "I 
BELONG TO
PAT."
Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an 
apostrophe
and seven more letters.  Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, "I BELONG TO 
PAT'S MOTHER."
But I didn't stop there.  I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a 
friend mail
the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington, VA.  We enclosed an official 
looking
letter from "The Institute for the Destitute," announcing that she was the 
recipient
of an award for good deeds.  I would have given anything to see Mom's face 
when she
opened the box.  But, of course, she never mentioned it.
Two years later, in 1978, I remarried.  The day of our wedding, Harold and I 
put
our car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, 
while
my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the 
car to
rest my head.  It felt lumpy.  I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in 
wedding
paper, the yellow shirt.  Inside a pocket was a note:  "Read John 14:27-29. 
I love
you both, Mother."
That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: 
"I am
leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't 
fragile
like the peace the world gives.  So don't be troubled or afraid.  Remember 
what I
told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again.  If you really 
love
me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is 
greater
than I am I have told you these things before they happen so that when they 
do, you
will believe in me."
The shirt was Mother's final gift.  She had known for three months that she 
had terminal
Lou Gehrig's disease.  Mother died the following year at age 57.
I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave.  But I'm glad 
I didn't,
because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 
16 years.
Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art.  And every 
art student
needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.
 You have 6 minutes....
 There's some mighty fine advice in these words, even if you're not 
superstitious.
This Lotus Totus has been sent To you for good luck from the Anthony Robbins 
organization.
It has been sent around the world ten times so Far. You will receive good 
luck within
four days of relaying this Lotus Totus.
 Do not keep this message.  The Lotus Totus must leave your hands in 6 
MINUTES.
 Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise. This is true, even if 
you are
not superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.
Now, here's the FUN part!
1-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.
5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.
9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks
15 and above: Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever 
dreamed
of will begin to take shape.
A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart