Shirt Happens, I Guess

From a trip to Memphis. I love Memphis.

Can a guy have too many t-shirts?

A gift from Kelly.

I used to tease Kelly because she had 97 sweaters, but not now. One, she gave away many of her sweaters, and two, when I swapped winter clothes for summer clothes, my t-shirts didn’t all fit in my closet. Somehow I have 80 short-sleeved t-shirts and about a dozen with long sleeves. That seems like a lot.

I've seen the Everly Brothers live five times, and
named one child after them.

It is faded, but this one is autographed by Kristen Schlukebir.

To be fair, like Kelly and her sweaters, many of these shirts I’ve had more than 25 years. Several  were freebies from the blood center, where I’ve donate every eight weeks. Most are from discount racks and flea markets, because I don’t like paying more than $3 for a shirt. Quite a few were gifts. Some I wear just for sleeping, some I’ve never worn.

Being the Best Dad is easy when you have the best kids.

Some of the ones I don’t wear are my most prized, but I think I’ve made a mistake. For example, two of the girls were summering in another state on Father’s Day, so they sent this shirt with their hand prints on it, and two sisters added theirs. I was so proud I wanted to keep it forever, so rather than wearing it, it’s been in the back of my closet since 2005.

One of my favorite live bands, unfortunately disbanded.

The same for one of my Big Smith shirts. My son Bradley and I bought it together at one of their shows, but neither of us ever wore it. I finally put it on for one of the band’s last concerts, and now wear it regularly. Of course, when you have 80 shirts, regular doesn’t necessarily mean often.

December 8, 1990

Some of my favorite shirts have come from the John Lennon tribute concerts we have in our town, like this one that has an original image drawn by Lennon and used with Yoko’s permission. I guess I had 10 or so Lennon shirts, but I wore them out.

Lou Brock is my favorite of all time, Ozzie is high on the list.

So what would you do in my position? Would you cull some of the shirts, and if so, how would you decide which to give away?

My wife and two daughtes are listed on back.

Or are you in my position? Do you have a bunch of shirts you love but don’t wear? Do you have just a few that you wear out?

A cool gift from Libby.

I would like to know.