Papa's hat

Yesterday was a day for all of us to let it all sink in. Friends and family came to offer their condolences by way of bringing us massive amounts of food. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing that there's a KFC just down the street from Nana and Papa's house because there's enough fried chicken in this house to feed a small army.

Today was all about preparation. The wake is scheduled for tomorrow night, and I had a lot to do. I've been digging through photo albums all day looking for photos to get enlarged to put on display. If I was back in Tulsa, I could get the whole thing done in a couple hours, but not having access to all that cool graphics equipment I was forced to go with the do-it-yourself photo enlargement kiosk at Wal-Mart. I cost nearly a fortune once I got the frames and everything, but I feel better having done something, anything to help out.

I also went out to buy a new suit. I have never owned a full suit, and this really wasn't the right occasion for me to mix and match from my existing wardrobe. When I got back to the house, Nana took one look at the suit and went back into Papa's closet and produced a dusty old fedora. She dusted it off with her hand and immediately we were both sneezing like crazy. Once the dust cleared (he he he), there was this hat that perfectly matched my new suit. Papa has had this hat since the late fifties, and aside form the dust, it looked like it was in perfect condition.

Nana ceremoniously placed the hat on my head, and it fit perfectly. She urged me to wear it to the service. I'm still quietly debating whether I should. While it is a wonderful tribute to Papa, I'm not sure I want to be the only guy at the funeral wearing a hat.