Today I'm grateful and super proud of this #kindness tee.
It's a design I fondly refer to as the Avery, because I commissioned it
in honor of our inaugural Mipps Seed-Money Scholarship recipient.
After I sent the T-shirt her way, we jumped on a virtual chat in our matching Ts. It was during that call when she shared that she had selected me for her Most Influential Teacher essay. I love this senior-English-class practice, when teachers ask these grads to not only reflect on who has been a role model for them, but then to put on their cap and gown and read it aloud to their teacher mentor.
This moment brought all the feels.
It's based on this note my brother, Mipps, sent to us years ago, with money for our kids. In it, he suggests that Jacob use his as seed money for his exchange trip to Germany by finding ways to earn money to match the amount that he was being given. After Mipps died and we got a few of his retirement funds, I decided that it'd be fun to start a Seed-Money Scholarship, to keep his legacy of love alive.
Basically every time our scholar would earn $100 this year, we would match it. That's it. Pretty straightforward, really, to encourage and reward taking initiative and a strong work ethic, just like Mipps inspired in Jacob way back when.
We would look for someone who's leaving their Mipps-sized Mark on the world. A one-of-a-KIND generous friend with joy in her heart and a song in her soul. A compassionate servant-hearted leader who makes the world better, just by humbly and judiciously planting seeds of kindness.
Those criteria took us straight to Avery, our beloved and trusted cat-sitter
and the daughter of a Spanish {former} student of mine from 1993.
In Avery's honor, I asked my friends at Inked Designs to create
a shirt that needed to have a flower because Avery has Flower Power,
a heart because she connects beautifully by heart, and some seeds,
to represent our seed-money ideal.
I got to work with older Avery's sister, too, so it's a family affair;
after posting about the Kindness Blooms T-shirt,
I received this beautiful note from their mom.
Dear Mrs. Gruener,
Your message brought me to tears. It’s hard to put into words how deeply moving it is to watch life come full circle like this. You didn’t just teach me in high school - you shaped the way I saw the world, led with love, and found strength in kindness. And now, all these years later, I see your beautiful influence reflected in my own daughters (Emily and Avery).
Watching Avery step into this next chapter as the first MIPPS scholar, wrapped in the legacy of your love and leadership, is one of the greatest honors of our lives. You’ve touched our entire family in ways you may never fully realize.
To hear that Avery selected you as her most influential teacher, and to know how much she means to you too - it’s a moment that fills my heart with overwhelming gratitude.
Thank you for continuing to pour into generations with your grace, faith, and joy. We are better - so much better - because of you.
Seems the gift of affirmations runs in their family; I'm so very thankful to get to encourage, support, inspire, mentor, and hold their beautiful hearts.
To start, we only printed twelve of these limited-edition shirts, but I'm working on offering the Avery in other colors and super-soft fabric through an online store in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned for details.
And yeah, a portion of the sales will go to support our next Seed-Money Scholar. It's Mipps' heavenly birthday tomorrow, after all, and I'm pretty sure he would think this is the best. gift. ever.
No comments
I really enjoy hearing from my readers; thanks for sharing your reflections with us!