The Summer before my first year of high school, I tried out for the cheer leading team. Being a cheerleader was the epitome of American.
I had a few obstacles along the way.
First, my father, a strict Armenian immigrant forbade me from trying out because of the short skirts. “Discussion” over.
Thankfully, my mom was a softy and she took me to tryouts anyway. We just didn’t tell my dad about it.
The next obstacle was my shirt.
I walked up to the sign-in table and I was told that I could not wear a sleeveless shirt at tryouts. Sorry. No exceptions.
I was devastated.
My mom had already driven off, so I just sat outside on a bench, crying.
Another girl who was there for tryouts came up to me and asked what was wrong. She introduced herself as Catherine. I told her what happened.
Catherine told me that she had a solution. She had already finished her tryout. So, she literally offered me the shirt off her back.
I accepted the offer.
We went to the locker-room and traded shirts.
I had my tryout.
I didn’t make the team.
But, I discovered a friend who would give me the shirt of her back.
Can you top that? Has anyone ever given you the shirt off their back?