Newfie June - Hats Off To Jack!

My father-in-law, Jack, recently passed away. He lived to be eighty-six years old and until last November, he hadn't been in a hospital since he had his appendix out at age nineteen. Jack was a skinny, wiry guy all of his life. He never weighed more than 120 pounds and he was 5'9" tall so you can imagine that he was what you would call "slight of frame".

Jack also lived through the depression and like many of his age, he loved to squirrel things away and it made him feel secure to have the "cellar" well stocked with tins of vegetables and jars of jam and peanut butter. He also liked nothing better than a bargain and would go to three or more grocery stores to get the best price on every item he had on his list. In the past year or so, with the high price of gasoline, I don't know how much he was actually saving, but that was his passion so away he would go.

A couple of winters back, Jack decided he needed a new hat. He was an avid walker and because he was so skinny, he had to dress in layers of sweaters under his coat and he always had to wear a hat…otherwise he would be cold. Jack favoured hats made of wool and the ones that had ear flaps that tucked up inside that you could fold down if it got windy, etc. He had found a couple of stores in his town that sold such hats and he had seen in the paper one day that Bargain Bill's was having a sale on hats. That's all Jack needed; he bundled up, put on his old hat and away he went to see what wares were being offered! The store actually had several bins filled with all manner of hats, toques, and caps. Jack spent quite a bit of time picking out some possible buys, trying them on in the store mirror and then rejecting them. Finally, he found one that he really liked. He tried it on, admired it from all angles and decided this was the one. Then, he noticed a flaw in the fabric. He thought he would go back to the bin where he found it and see if he could find another just like it…minus the flaw. He rifled through the hats for a few minutes and pulled out another hat. It was not exactly like the one he had chosen previously but he thought maybe he liked it even better! He took it over to the mirror, tried it on and admired it. Yes, by golly, this one would do just fine. He could not see a price tag on it but was sure it would be reasonable as the sale was a good one. He took it up to the check out and the cashier tried to find a tag. She searched inside and out but could not see one. She was just calling out to her manager to see if he could get her a price quote when Jack suddenly realized the hat looked familiar. "Wait a minute", he said, "That's my own hat that I was wearing when I came in!"

No wonder he liked it…it was his own hat! He had set it down on one of the bins to try on the others and totally forgotten about it.

When she finished laughing, the cashier told him that she thought he should only have to pay once for a hat…she handed him his and he sheepishly headed home. If he liked the one he had so much that he almost purchased it a second time…then he didn't need another anyway.

After Jack's funeral, my husband asked for Dad's hat. It is a nice memento of his father and it doesn't look too bad on him either but there's one condition….unless he is in threat of having his ears freeze off, he is NOT to fold down those ear flaps! Seriously, I'm glad we got to keep the hat. Every time I see it I chuckle about Jack's little escapade and think fondly of him.

© Newfie June




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