My daughter, Genette, and niece, Samantha, decided to make t-shirts in support of Bryon's fight with cancer. Genette drove from Virginia to Sam’s house in West Virginia for a weekend and the two girls designed a simple logo and ironed it onto t-shirts for the family. My sister, Kay, and brother-in-law, Chuck, drove from Maryland to Sam’s house to help in the “manufacturing process.” I was in California, so they did a video chat with me so I could see what they were doing.

The design is in the color that I call "Bryon blue." Here is the story behind the color. When my kids were little, everyone in our family was assigned a color; Steven, my husband, has purple; I have yellow; Genette is green; Bryon is blue; Carmen is red. It was really an organizing system — cups were purchased in these specific colors so we knew which one belonged to whom, we identified gifts by the color of the ribbon… you get the idea, right? As the family has grown, so has the spectrum. Genette married Abe; his color is gray (he picked it, it is not my fault). Amber, Bryon’s girlfriend, has chosen teal, her favorite color.

It was appropriate that Genette and Sam used Bryon blue on the shirts. When I look at those t-shirts, I don’t just see an article of clothing, I see the love of family.

I see cousins getting together to help Bryon fight.

I see these girls being friends and enjoying each other.

I see my sister supporting me, as she always has, as I stand with my son.

When my extended family wears these shirts, I see one unit. We live in different states, are at different stages of life, with different ideas.

We are different individuals. But when it comes to the important things, we are united... we are a team.

#TeamBryon #dontmesswithmycubs