Fighting With Family

Every shirt that I’ve made is special to me but this latest design is probably one of my favorites. I’ve tweaked the “How I Fight My Battles” shirt to honor 2 friends that are Breast Cancer survivors. Initially, this wasn’t something I considered doing because I don’t want to create a design about something this serious just to get money. Every design that I’ve done has a deep personal connection to me. Cancer has already played a huge part in my life as that’s where Ivan Ray’s comes from. My dad and cousin both died of cancer, so I already know the toll it takes on a family.

Kim H. is a former coworker and family friend that I’ve known since 1999. I hadn’t seen her in person in several years until meeting at an local event a few weeks ago. Since them, we’ve been chatting about the effects of breast cancer in her personal circle. She talked about how they’ve been supporting each other. When she hinted about me making a pink design for “my friend” one day, it was a no brainer. I thought of the first time I saw her husband post about her going to the hospital, it wrecked me. I was disappointed for not keeping in touch and being someone that she could lean on because we’d already had a history of cancer in our families. We were working together and talking all the time during 2009 when my Dad was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She also had her own family health issues going on at the same time. Getting the new design out drove me, because I felt like I could do something for her. I’ve watched Kim support Breast Cancer Awareness financially on social media on her Birthday every since her own battle. It is my pleasure to join her this year by donating more to her cause. I have created a promotional code on the Ivan Ray’s website called “Kim.” I’ll use that code to keep track of sales of the shirt and donate the profits to whichever Breast Cancer organization she decides to support.

After meeting with Kim, I called another friend Toni M. We’ve seen each other in church small group settings for years, but recently taken different paths. So I seen her for in several months. I’ve heard Toni’s story so many times over that last couple of years and could honestly never get tired of hearing it. Her family has become some of my family’s absolute closest friends. Toni and her husband Heath were only one of two couples that were at my private wedding ceremony back in 2019. Needless to say, even if we don’t see each other for months at a time they’ve become people that will always have a special place in my heart. Their transparency for both their physical and spiritual journeys have been instrumental in my life. God gave them a special testimony and they use it to constantly point people to Jesus. If I could show gratitude in any way, it would be to continue with them in their fight to tell as many people as possible about Jesus. It is my pleasure to continue this “Fight With Family!”