Henry and His 'NEW' Hat

I just think he's the cutest little boy ever!  Although this handsome child is worthy of a post by himself, the reason for this post is not just to display his 'new' hat but to tell a bit of the story behind it.  Yesterday our neighbor, Dave, brought over two well worn and even a bit dirty hats.  He apologized more than once for the hats being dirty, to which my reply was I can easily wash them.  The ties were either missing or had fallen off and were hand stitched back on. The names Leif Sorensen and Lars Sorensen are under the bill and on the tag in Carolyn's perfect block penmanship.  These hats are warm, filled with down with a cotton lining.  I know I've seen pictures of Leif and Lars wearing these hats when they were my boys' age.  These hats (the other is red) are at least 20 years old if not older and no doubt full of memories.  The Sorensen's are a family very similar to ours.  They have two boys a couple years apart, they hunt and fish, they garden and bake, they ride four wheelers and get dirty.  Carolyn hung on to these hats for a reason, maybe sentimental, maybe because they were too expensive to throw out, maybe to pass down to her grand kids, but probably not specifically for the Holte boys.  Whatever the reason, she hung on to them.  I'm sure that Dave has started to go through Carolyn's things, both stuff she saved and her day to day things, and came across these hats.  I can only imagine the emotions he went through trying to decide what to do with the hats.  I've gone through a handful of emotions myself since Dave was here yesterday and it didn't really didn't hit me until today...Carolyn is gone, we can't bring her back, and my boys will never really know how great she was.  I am thrilled that we, my boys, have something that must have meant a great deal to her.  At the same time my heart breaks for Dave.  How hard it must be for him to not only go on without the love of his life, but to go through all the things of their life together, deciding what to keep and what to find new homes for.  I, we, are blessed to have known Carolyn and Dave and I am grateful for the memories that we have of them.  Right now memories aren't enough for the boys, they need material things to help them remember and these hats are something that I will cherish just as much as I think Carolyn did.  My boys will wear them and someday I'll give them back to Leif and Lars.  Hopefully, they appreciate that I kept them as much as I appreciate receiving them first.