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JUST AN OLD HAT
It was a windy morning as we were walking down the street
when a hat came tumbling toward us and landed at our feet.
I was about to throw it in the trash, when, upon a whim
I turned it over and noticed a label…sewn into the brim.
'This hat belongs to Sam’, it read, ‘who often loses track
of where he sets it down…but he’d love to have it back.’
The hat was old and weathered…it’s stitching was a mess
But I tucked it under my arm and we walked to his address.
I couldn’t imagine why this hat was so important…and who would want it anymore
until we rang the doorbell…and Sam opened up the door.
“You found it!” He exclaimed, “I think, this time, I lost it by the sea.”
He thanked us as he held it to his heart…then invited us in…for tea.
He explained how this was his ‘lucky’ hat…he’d worn it all his life.
He was wearing it the day he met Bess, who would later be his wife.
He wore it to his three children’s births, on every family vacation.
He wore it to parties and weddings and soccer games and a host of graduations.
He continued naming off places he’d worn it…through all life’s milestones.
How he wore it to Bess’s funeral…and how he now wears it alone.
He said when he started to forget things, Bess put that hat upon her knee
“and sewed in this here label…so it would find it’s way back to me.”
“And it has!” He said as he rubbed that label. “It was Bess who was behind it.”
“She found a way for me to get my hat
when she’s not here to help me find it.”
As we said goodbye and walked away…I glanced back and…imagine that!
Sam was waving from the window and he was wearing that old hat.
I guess you never know on any given day…the people you might meet
And what new wonders the capricious winds of fate will lay beneath your feet.
But if you happen to see a hat tumbling toward you…I hope you find he knack
to pick it up…because there’s a man who you don’t even know…
who would love to get it back.
