Once my mom died I stopped buying any Grandma shirts for my kids. It was too hard for me and made me too sad that she was no longer here to spend time with Chase or meet any of her additional grandkids. But recently I found a shirt that made me think of my mom and smile and laugh and I knew I had to get it for my girls.
My mom was always positive especially during my sports games. I struggled with my confidence mainly in basketball and softball. While dad was a little more critical and would focus on what I wasn’t doing well in the game, mom kept the positivity coming.
One basketball game, which I believe was a home game vs Pennington in my junior year, (which I think we lost in overtime but shouldn’t have-amazing the random details you remember), my mom in this odd high pitched voice yelled out “Believe Erin believe.” It was the voice that we found so odd and amusing and ever since that game, my brother, dad and I will still say believe in this weird tone my mom said it in that day.
This story has been told to Chris so the two of us continue to say believe in a weird voice any time we say the word. It’s a way of remembering and honoring mom and her positivity and sometimes randomness, like the odd tone of her voice. But that was mom.
Mom was always so positive and my biggest supporter. So even though I laugh at the Believe Erin believe line, it reminds me of how caring she always was.
That is why when I saw this shirt Reese is wearing at a recent consignment sale I had to get it. When I saw it I smiled and immediately thought of the infamous Believe Erin believe line.
I know if she was still here now, she would be saying the same thing to me throughout this cancer battle. I know that a lot of my strength comes from
her and the tough fights she put up battling breast cancer three times.
So there was no doubt I was getting this believe shirt for my daughters. It reminds me that I have the best guardian angel watching over and believing in us. And it reminds me to continue to Believe Erin believe.
