A grandma came up with a beautiful gesture for her children and grandchildren by turned her late husband's prized Hawaiian shirt collection into memory pillows. Randall "Randy" Hardin Sr., 72, was renowned for wearing Hawaiian shirts, and over the years, his family estimates Randy amassed a collection of more than 50. Hawaii held a special place in Randy's heart, as he and his wife, Marion, 79, from Commercial Point, Ohio, spent their honeymoon in Kona, where Randy purchased his first shirt. Having received several compliments on that shirt, Randy saw the garment as a conversation started, and over time his family started seeing him in nothing but such eye-catching garments. During Randy's lifetime, he and Marion returned to Kona 25 times, allowing Randy to build his collection by purchasing new shirts every time. But after Randy's passing, Marion wondered what to do with her late husband's jazzy collection. Given that she enjoys quilting, Marion searched Pinterest and came up with the idea of turning Randy's shirts into memory pillows – one for each child and grandchild – so they had something to remember her husband with.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 My grandpa every day would wear a Hawaiian shirt.
00:03 It was a different one every day.
00:05 He had like so many.
00:07 About 50 of them total.
00:08 I don't think I remember a day without him in a Hawaiian shirt.
00:13 It all started when late Grandpa Randy went on his honeymoon to Hawaii.
00:18 His wife bought him his first one there and when he started getting compliments on it,
00:22 he began his shirt collection and never looked back.
00:26 So for Grandpa Randy's celebration of life, Grandma Marion created something special to
00:32 keep his memory alive and to honor the 25 visits to Hawaii they took in their lifetime
00:40 together.
00:41 She made each grandkid a pillow out of the Hawaiian shirt and we all wore Hawaiian shirts
00:45 as well.
00:46 And then the pillow says this is a shirt I used to wear whenever you hold it, know that
00:50 I am their loved grandpa.
00:53 She made 20 pillows total and everyone loved them.
00:58 And they all loved the memories they'll always have with Grandpa Randy too.
01:04 She brought out a picture with the shirt and so she handed us the picture first, then handed
01:10 us the pillow that went along with the picture and then we all just shared a memory about
01:14 him.
01:15 We were trying to catch some fish and my fishing rod got stuck on a branch and I dropped the
01:22 fishing rod in the water and he had to go get it.
01:26 This was like two and it's this picture of the two of them walking away and you can tell
01:33 they're related because of the way they're walking even in the picture even though they're
01:36 not moving.
01:37 But it's truly just an adorable picture.
01:39 It was a really special weekend that he came out that time.
01:44 Grandma Marion told us this was something really healing for her too.
01:49 Just kind of heartwarming and it was nice to be with all the cousins because we're all
01:53 from different states and just know that we all had this shared love for our grandparents
01:58 and we all had different experiences and we're all different ages but we all just felt like,
02:07 I don't know, it was just a special moment.