Celebrating 120 Years

A Letter From Cindy:

While browsing through some family photos recently (I still make prints), one in particular caught my eye. When I asked my husband to look at that page, he did not recognize anything peculiar so I pointed out that he had been wearing the same shirt that past Sunday afternoon. The photo was of my husband holding our then newborn grandson who turned 16 this year!

At first we laughed at the fact that he could still be wearing that shirt, but after several days of considering this I began to look at this shirt in a different light. Perusing through hundreds of old photos, I found the oldest pic of this shirt from March 1999, which makes this said shirt over 20 years old. It was purchased by his mom who passed away in 2000. She was always a great supporter of Sheplers and we have more shirts in the closet with their name on them.

However, this story isn't about a brand of shirts, though kudos to Sheplers for their quality. Rather the story remains in the heart of the life of this shirt.

My husband is an owner-operator truck driver. This shirt would have traveled to most of the states in our country either while working, hunting trips with family or friends, on vacations with family.This shirt has been worn and washed nearly every week for over 20 years. Several years ago it was demoted to a "work shirt" due to stains.It is still worn even in the summer when long sleeves are a necessity to protect from the sun in the hay field, and it's sleeve used to wipe the sweat from my husband's brow.

This shirt has a heart. It has danced with me. It has held all five of our grandchildren. It has hugged one daughter through a divorce and hugged me through the death of another daughter. It has clasped it's sleeve around the shoulder of our son for jobs well done. It has been through the loss of our parents and many other family members and friends. It was worn through the sur­vival of cancer for both my husband and myself. There are 16 snaps on this shirt. Every one still works. I have never needed to repair a seam. The collar is frayed, the fabric is threadbare. It is grease-stained and fits more snuggly.

Someday a family member will find this shirt in my hope chest amid the treasures of our lives--our wedding cake topper, an outfit from each of my childrens' infancy, poems and stories and tributes, mornentos from school days, and every card our children and grandchildren have given us. Someone from the next generation will ask why Nana would keep this old shirt. I will attach this story so that they may understand. Some things cannot be destroyed -- as the resiliency and quality of an old shirt and the man that still wears it.

Recently I was browsing through family photos when I came across one that caught my attention. I pointed out a particular page to my husband. In a photo my husband was holding our then newborn grandson. I remarked to him that he had worn that same shirt the previous Sunday afternoon. That picture had been taken in 2003. Our grandson turned 16 this year!

I began searching for more pies of this shirt and came up with several·more. My printer did not do justice these old photos but it is the same shirt. The earliest I found was from 1999 and it could be older than that. My mother-in-law would purchase Shepler shirts for Christmas and birthdays and she passed away in July 2000. This shirt has been worn and washed at least once per week for over 20 years.

In a throw-away world where quantity has been favored over qual­ity, I wanted to commend Sheplers for having shirts that endure the test of time. I am sending you a copy of a story I have written about this shirt that I hope Reader's Digest wil publish. They may not, but at least I hope this is an encouragement to you when we are so quick to complain and slow to compliment.

I hope this finds it's way to management as I had no idea who to address this to. I hope you enjoy my story and Kudos to Sheplers. We have shopped in your stores in Las Vegas and Texas, catalogs and online.

Cindy D, Pennsylvania