Travelin' Hats

This is the story of the hats.

Early on in my Mom's treatment her chemo started causing her hair to fall out. She was pretty distressed about this because it didn't start falling out until 2 weeks after her treatment. She thought maybe she was going to be one of the lucky ones who get to keep their hair.

One day she came out of the bathroom upset because she had just combed her hair and the sink was now full of hair. Wanting to try to cheer her up I walked into the bathroom and cut most of my medium length hair off.



Mom was shocked when I walked out of the bathroom and said to her, "Dang Mom! I went into the bathroom and a bunch of my hair fell off too!"

We decided that day to make matching hats.

Making those hats is the best memory I have of my Mom. She went right into action gathering up materials to make "Travelin' Hats". Out came her butterfly collection. We robbed jewelry, pins and whatnots of their butterflies to pin and sew on our hats.

MOM'S HAT

We spent the rest of the day and part of the next putting them together. Sitting there with her on the bed surrounded by our mess we talked about the butterflies and where she had collected each one from. Some were precious to her. One was given to her by her deceased sister, one from the Hospice who cared for her father. One was a pin I had sent to her years ago.

Focusing on the hats let her forget about the cancer for the day. Focusing on the hats helped me to forget about our troubled relationship for the day. We had a lot of fun. I believe we formed a connection that day, even if we didn't talk about anything serious or work through any issues. We were just both girls having fun with a project. Together.

CHAR'S HAT

We wore our hats to all of Mom's appointments and whenever we went somewhere together. The hats became a symbol of our relationship. The more people noticed our hats the less Mom seemed to worry about her hair.

One of our favorite things was to go to thrift shops. I talked Mom into trying on a lot of hats. I wish I had taken more pictures.




I wore my hat to Mom's funeral. Hers was on her casket near her head. Anyone who knew us didn't have to ask what they were.