HammerOn - The Story

    I wrote back in November 2018 about my battle slogan, "HammerOn."  I was actually in the process of repairing my fence in Arlington in late summer of 2018 when I was diagnosed with cancer.  Working on the fence helped me take my mind off the diagnosis, combined with my childhood memories of rebuilding fences with my Dad, really got the idea into my head from beyond board and nails to a work ethic instilled in me to keep getting up and hammering on.  The symbolism of the HammerOn logo was cemented when one month into chemotherapy my cousin Andrew brought me two hammers, a ball peen hammer belonging to our grandfather and a framing hammer belonging to his dad which were used to hammer on metal and wood.  I instantly felt connected to the hammers, through the spirt of my Dad and Andrew's Dad whom both died of cancer. 

My backyard fence at time of diagnosis - Aug/Sep 2018 

     My cancer experience while positive was emotionally difficult, in fact I didn't think I would still be alive post surgery so I didn't pursue brining the HammerOn idea for others to fruition.  That all changed when I woke from surgery, actually yelling out to the doctors, "I'm not going to die from this shit!" Post surgery I began ramping up design the HammerOn logo and idea language.  I first had to build the shape of the framing and ball peen hammers in Adobe Illustrator to get scalable vectors, then I could start rotating the hammers to follow the sketch I had made in chemotherapy treatment.  I went through a couple of different versions of the heart in the middle, but I stuck the main idea which was to form a heart from the hammer's head and have a heartbeat.  I wanted the hammers to be blue in color representing men with the pink heart representing women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer every year. 

    The first product I wanted to make was a ball cap, to help cover up my lost hair and allow me to broadcast cancer awareness.  I made the hat through a company called CustomInk and chose the hat's fabric because it was soft and moisture wicking, great for the summer heat and hot flashes.  I loved that the logo was stitched onto the hat and I was super excited when I got my first hat!  In fact, they looked so great that I thought I could start selling them to hospital gift shops... Sibley Hospital Gift Shop purchased a bunch!  I designed a fold out card tag about my story that is attached to the hat.  Check out #HammerOnCancer on Instagram. 

Stitching proof, front of the hat

HammerOn Cancer Hat - introduced June 11, 2019

    I returned with my cousin Andrew to visit the house in Capitol Hill in Washington, DC where the ball peen hammer originated from, and even tho the Parkers haven't lived there in over 30 years, we both felt a connection. 

Andrew and I with our HammerOn Cancer hats in Capitol Hill

    In late June, post treatment I returned to the fence that had gone a full year laying up against the garage waiting to be fixed.  As I now wore my "HammerOn Cancer" hat I begun working away on the fence main gate.  While things took me twice as long, slowly the main gate took shape and I accomplished the goal.  I want to think that this fence was some kind of metaphor for me and through this fence I rebuilt myself.  

My backyard fence main gate - complete post treatment June 2019