Theme Thursday: His Best Hat Ever

This week’s theme for Theme Thursday is Hats. Why not grab your hat and head over to join the fun?

His Best Hat Ever

And all your future lies beneath your hat.

                                    - Colonial poet John Oldham

 

It started when he was about three years old.  The moment he donned his Grandpa’s straw plantation hat, he was smitten.  From that day forward, he never met a hat he didn’t like.  He bought the ones he liked best, and others were gifts.  He loved them all.

His mother used to say, “He’s always been into costumes.”  But that wasn’t quite it.  He did like to don the persona of some of his favorite characters, but costumes weren’t necessary.  You didn’t need much anything else if you had a good hat. He could be Sherlock Holmes; his deerstalker was a favorite.  Or maybe Che. Or Pinky Lee. Whatever his mood, whomever he felt like being, he had a hat to suit.

Over the years, his collection grew.  Indiana Jones, Topper, and Charlie Chaplin joined the cast of characters residing on the hat rack in his room.  Ali Baba, Patton, Uncle Sam, Dr. Seuss’ cat… He could be anyone he wanted.

And then, one day when he’d forgotten to put on a hat before heading out, he met her, the woman who was born for him. She was beautiful, smart, and funny.  She shared his love of the outdoors, and looked at the world through the same quirky lens he did.  And if all that weren’t enough, she owned a costume business!  How could it get any better?

There was just one problem. She hated his hat collection!  She thought it was childish.  Childish!!!

Well, he figured, everyone has to grow up sometime.  Reluctantly, he gave away all his hats, making sure that each would have a good home.  But, oh, it was painful.  He’d had them for so long.  It was like turning away family.

In time, he became accustomed to going out as himself, with no hat atop his head. But he never stopped missing them, wishing he could be someone else on occasion.

Until the day his son was born.  He realized then that, finally, he was who he was supposed to be all along.  For years, he hasn’t given his hat collection another thought.  Every day, he proudly wears his new hat: “Dad.”