Sometimes, the most ordinary and even beat-up items around us carry a meaning deeper than an initial glance will yield.

Japanese Twitter user R1A (@ 922_riaru) recently found that out when she noticed that her father often favored wearing a shirt that had become tattered. She writes that even when holes would open up in the shirt after he continued to wear it for 20 years, he would sew them closed and fix the shirt himself. Puzzled by this, she would complain to him that "it looks lame, why don't you just buy a new one?"

Her father kept his answer to himself, likely having been told the same thing over the course of 20 years, but as R1A would find out, there was a deeper reason for that as well. She recently discovered a collection of family heirlooms and photo albums that revealed her father and mother on their honeymoon. In it, her father sports the same polo shirt.

Her mother, who passed away 18 years ago, wears a very similar shirt as well. It's clear that the shirt has a special meaning to R1A's father, and is perhaps a way for him to keep the memory of his departed wife and their special times together alive. According to R1A, her father has said he has never had the intention of re-marrying, as he is concerned for the feelings of his children.

As for R1A, it seems she has had a change of heart when it comes old and seemingly useless items after learning the true meaning of her father's efforts to protect a shirt, no matter how much people make fun of him for it. "From now on, I'm never going to throw away anything that contains memories of my parents or grandparents. Up until now, I laughed at my dad and called him lame for wearing the same clothes all the time. Now I'm going to treasure my memories as well."

Twitter reaction to her discovery has been a mix of heartbreak and admiration for her father's spirit. Despite being made fun of and laughed at during what must be a very lonely experience, he takes pride in his love for his wife and his memories of her. While his daughter may have once called him "uncool", it seems he is as cool a father and husband as anyone could ask for.