Kept 'Christine' or 'Todd's'? She is the one who needed it, and most people spend a tile on her, but the story is how she asked, not who she is, and the five has room for the T-shirt or the name, not both. Kept 'teacher' or 'Virginia'? He is who answered, and the five says donor, which is the only thing about him that matters here. Kept 'two years'? That is how long she wore it, and the five ends on what the wearing got her.
This one really happened. Christine Todd, of Plainfield, Illinois, has polycystic kidney disease and needed a living donor. She took her search to White Sox games, with the plea on T-shirts and a banner, and NBC Chicago ran her story two years ago. Chris Beck, a biology teacher in Virginia who had already given part of his liver to someone in 2020, saw the post because his mother sent it to him. He went to the donor centre near his home and asked to give a kidney to her. The surgery happened in Richmond and the kidney was flown to Chicago. On Saturday 19 September the two of them went to a Sox game together at Rate Field, back where it started. 'Saying thank you is not good enough,' she told him.
Every word, accounted for
PrintedHow the plea got onto the shirt. The making, not the asking.
onA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
ChristineHer first name. The five is about how she asked, not who she is.
Todd'sHer surname, with the apostrophe. The strongest name in the sentence, and a name is the first thing cut when the how is the story.
T-shirtWhere the plea went. One word, joined, and the whole reason this is a story.
andA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
wornWhat she did with it, every game, for two years. The wearing is the effort; the five keeps the plea.
atA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
WhiteGoes with Sox.
SoxWhich ballpark. True, and a place is the first thing a sub-editor scores through.
gamesWhere the shirt was seen. Goes with White Sox.
forA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
twoHow long she wore it. A number for the telling.
yearsGoes with two.
aA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
pleaWhat was on the shirt. Not a slogan, not a joke. An ask.
forA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
aA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
kidneyWhat she asked for.
foundWhat the plea did. The verb, and the only one in the sentence.
herA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
donorWho it found. Not a match, not a volunteer. The person who gave.
ChrisHis first name.
BeckHis surname. He is the donor, and donor is already in the five.
aA little word. It only holds the sentence together.
VirginiaWhere he lives, and why the kidney had to fly.
biologyWhat he teaches.
teacherWhat he does. The best word here that is not in the answer, and it says who he is rather than what he did.