A Legacy Of Hats

We celebrated my grandfather's 96th birthday this past Easter weekend.

My sister, her husband, and her two boys were there.  Also, all of my aunts and uncles were in attendance, along with several cousins, their spouses and kids.  It was a joyous event, to say the least.  There were only five cousins and their families who were not able to come, but of those who did, we had a lot of laughs and heartfelt reminiscence.

As usual, my grandfather loves (yes, loves, I can't emphasize that enough) black licorice.  We gave him an assortment of black licorice from a small candy store in town.

The weekend was also bittersweet as my grandfather has recently moved into an assisted living home and is in the process of cleaning out the house so it can be sold.  For me, there were four-plus decades worth of memories in this home.  There were items from the home my grandfather put people's names on, from his own children, their spouses, and then the grandchildren.  I was given a piano, which had been a centerpiece for many Christmases when I was young as my grandmother (she passed away over 15 years ago) played it with skillful finesse.  There were also many items one could just take.  My grandfather had such an assortment of tools, they filled many tables in the basement and garage.

There were also bigger items for purchase.  Another centerpiece was the dining room table.  One of my cousins purchased it as he has a larger dining room and the table he owned was rather small.  Many memories were spent there, and it will be the centerpiece for many more in its new home.

In the den was a writing desk.  The price was reasonable--honestly, everything with prices were reasonable and none of us thought about the money as it was going to help with my grandfather's living expenses.  I kept going back and back to the writing desk.  It spoke to me, in a way.  I put my name on it.

In a few weeks, it will be moved down (along with the piano and a corner couch) to my home.

One highlight of the day was what I'll call the legacy of hats.  My grandfather and grandmother had quite an assortment of hats.  Everyone picked through them and put one on.  We had so much fun putting these on.  One of my cousin's husband and myself each chose a fur-lined Cossack hat.

The legacy of hats filtered down to virtually everyone in attendance.  My uncle Rod told me that my wife needed one.  He chose one that he thought would work, then sifted through what was left, over and over again, always coming back to his original choice.  It was fun to watch him choose just the right one for my wife.  He truly looked like a kid in a candy store.  He ended up with the original.  It fit her well.