It’s hard to believe Trey met Jesus 10 years ago July 5. There have been so many changes (good and bad) in the last 10 years of this grief journey. God has truly ministered to us with comfort, new friends, and sweet reminders that this is not our home. We WILL see Trey again.

I had someone ask me if we were going to do something since “10” is a big number. To be honest, I had not given much thought. The days of spending July 5 with his friends have come and gone. That is not a bad thing! They now have sweet families of their own and know the love a parent has for a child.

I want to get to the point. Trey always wanted to give back when he is was ill. He had a servant’s heart. I tell people one of the few times he got upset was after he talked with Peyton Manning. He asked me why he didn’t call another St. Jude patient. At the time, we tried to make things happen but it just didn’t work out.

It wasn’t until I attended a bereaved parents retreat about a month ago that I came up with the idea after talking to many parents. What was Trey’s trademark? POLO! I put Polo hats on him from the time he was a baby and he kept with the love of those hats in all colors! Sometimes he wore them facing forward and sometimes to the back…but he always had his yellow Polo hat. I still have all his hats except for a few I gave to his close friends after he died. One particular, I remember going to St. Jude to take his hunter green Polo hat to Kristina Hunsucker who was fiercely battling cancer at the time. She was a friend of Trey’s and I just thought having one of his hats would comfort her. She did lose her hair during treatment and I know it was special for her to have one of his hats.

Fortunately, Trey did not lose a lot of his hair during his treatments. I think God knew he could not handle that part of his journey. But there are many children who do! So, I want to purchase as many Polo hats as I can to give back in memory of Trey’s faith, courage, and bravery during his cancer battle.

This is how you can help. If you feel led, please donate a dollar or $5 to help me purchase at least 13 hats. I’m in Pigeon Forge, TN for a mini vacation and I want to start buying them now at the outlet. As they always say, no amount is too small. You will be a part of giving back to a child in need of a smile during a very dark time.

You can Venmo me at Lisa-Erwin-6 and I will keep a list of his “loving friends and family” to put on a letter that will accompany the hat telling of his journey. If you do not have Venmo and want to help, just send me a message and we will honor that commitment. This is just another way to keep Trey’s memory alive and at the same time, help a child. Trey would totally do this.

If I have tagged you in this blog, please do not feel obligated. It’s just a way of spreading the word that we ARE still considering “all things joy” while continuing to walk this grief journey together. We don’t have sponsors or the #prayfortrey fund (that went to Collierville High School for his scholarship).

I hope this will give you a warm feeling of doing something to honor our sweet boy’s 10th year with Jesus. If you are not able to give, I would love, LOVE to receive any memory you might have of how his journey made an impact on you as I am putting together several Shutterfly books of his journey.

Thank you to all those who STILL love us well until we see him again!

“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when encountering various trials, for you know the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2-3

P.S. Please excuse any typo or grammar errors! I did this on my phone!