Jocelyn Curry

One at a time, I am cleaning and organizing closets and drawers in my house. We all know that this is often difficult. Indeed, we have to part with things that represented people and experiences of bygone days in order to make room, or at least lighten our load of household accumulations.

Or, we can simply wash them and put them back in the drawer, which is what I did with the warmly beautiful hat collection in the photo below. For many years, the drawer with all the old hats, gloves and mittens has cried out to be tended to. A few gems had to be kept. To read where each hat came from, and who the wearer of each was, read on:

#1 was a Christmas gift from my son and a high school girlfriend who wore hats like this. I always feel keen pangs when I come across gifts from my kids' past partners, the often painful ends of those relationships flashing through my memory as I touch and recall, simultaneously.

#2 was knitted for me by my mother, a knitter of exquisite skill. This cap matched a very heavily worn, favorite sweater she made for me when I was young, perhaps 11 years old. The hat was always too small, but I couldn't part with it. Wearing her sweaters always made me proud.

#3 is an Eddie Bauer hat we bought for our high school-aged daughter as a Christmas gift during the early years of my calligraphy career, when I created calligraphic catalogue headlines for Eddie Bauer.

#4 is a hat I knitted for myself when I was in college, just after meeting my husband-to-be. I have many photos of myself in this hat, my then-rounder face usually beaming the joy I felt in being with Rick!

#5 is another hat knitted by my mom, this time for our daughter when she was 2 years old. The hat is in better condition than the matching sweater, which was worn and worn during the years when Emily sported railroad striped Oshkosh overalls that looked très toddler chic with a pink fisherman knit sweater!

#6 is the wool pompom that has become separated from its hat. Its hat is the traditional Irish fisherman's white counterpart to Emily's pink hat described above, knitted by Grandma Curry, my mom. It also had a matching sweater with leather buttons, worn with Oshkosh overalls. The sweater is in a cedar chest, where I presume and hope the pompom's hat is also resting.

What better way to end this little woolen trip down memory lane than by happily divulging that I am going to become a grandma in July, so perhaps some of these preserved hats will be worn again :-).