My Grandfathers Hat

My grandfather was always larger than life to me.  He was large in stature, loud in volume, and needed things his way.  There was a chair that was his too....Both in the living room and the dining room.  And one had better move as fast as fire if you were sitting in it when he entered the room.  He was a dapper kind of man, too.  Not just because of the decade but because he was the union negotiator for Boeing.  He had to look serious and be serious...and a bit scary.  

There was always something mysterious about him for me.  When he retired, my grandmother and he purchased a Jet Stream trailer and hitched it to their 70's style truck and traveled from state to state, picking up souvenirs and stories and bringing them back to share.  My mother collected the postcards they would send and we would look at maps to see where they had been.  My grandparents were quite proud of their exploration of the United States.

My grandfather, being the dapper guy he was, had hats.  He had casual hats and dress hats.  Wool hats with a feather to one side, large straw hats, and my favorite....a suede and leather Indiana Jones kind of hat.  There are some photos of him without hats, but my favorite photos of him he is wearing a hat; even on vacation or on one of his adventures.  He wore his hats with style, attitude, and with a bit of a grin on his face like he was in on some sort of joke; always.

These hats my mother gave me after he died.  They were put in storage for several years...I just did not know what to do with them.  And then when I became a mom to a little boy, I knew just what to do.  My grandfathers hats ended up in my sons playroom.  Sometimes they were hung up high for decoration.  Sometimes they came down to wear and play with.  But they were often admired and would bring back fond, yet fuzzy memories of my own childhood.

Now I am looking at his hats and staring down the photo assignment to Kenya.  I have been spending WAY too much time looking online for clothing and supplies for the trip...including...looking for a suitable hat.  Why look any further?

This morning I tried on the Indiana Jones suede hat and it fit.  Not stylish on me, but it fit.  The hat is not waterproof, not packable, crushable, or washable.  It does not have a sweatband, but it does have vent holes.  No matter.  I am taking and wearing the hat to Africa.  My grandfather would have worn it and I think it would make him proud for me to wear it.  He never made it to Africa, but his granddaughter is going and will be bringing a bit of him in the form of a hat.  If the hat is lost, destroyed, stollen, eaten by a giraffe or falls off and is lost forever after running from a lion, I am OK with it.  It is the adventure for him and for me, that counts.  And if I end up leaving part of granddad there in Africa, I would be even more proud.  

That the man who walked me down the aisle at my wedding and gave me away at the altar is still helping me in life in the form of a really cool hat for my own adventures and travels in life...makes me smile.  

Thanks, grandfather!