It
was
June of 1980 and I wanted to get my Dad a present for Father’s
Day.My Father
always wore a hat.It
was a felt fedora most of the year and a straw fedora in the
Summer.He always
had boxes for his hats and he had a box that had the Stetson
logo on it but he never owned a Stetson.Stetsons were
considered the Cadillac of hats.So I set about getting him Stetson for Father’s Day.In downtown
Pittsburgh at that time there was still a haberdashery that
sold men’s hats.I
walked in and asked if I could purchase a grey felt Stetson
fedora for my father.The
salesman asked me are you sure you don’t want a straw fedora
as it is the season for straw hats?The store actually
was only displaying straw fedoras at that time.I explained to the
salesman that my Dad was always a hat man but he never owed a
felt Stetson Fedora.The
salesman then went upstairs to the storage area and was able
to procure a grey felt Stetson for me. On Father’s day I gave
Stetson to my Father.I must pause here and tell you that my Father could be
very sarcastic person (in the good sense) at times.He didn’t take life
too serious.(My
family members will tell you that I definitely inherited his
sarcasm gene.)My
father thanked me for the gift but as it was summer he said
suppose I never get the chance to wear this?I told him in
a sarcastic reply I’ll put it on top of your coffin when they
bury you.The
hat sat in a box until later that year as he consider a very
formal hat not for everyday use.In November of that year one of my aunts passed away
and as we were getting ready to go to the funeral service I
reminded my Father that he should wear his Stetson to the
funeral.He did
wear to my aunt’s funeral so he did finally get to wear an
authentic Stetson.Those that want to can now stop reading but there is
more to the story which was foreshadowed already.On the Tuesday
before Thanksgiving of that same year, I did not have to
college but was going into town to get my haircut.I saw my Father go
to the kitchen as I was leaving and said goodbye and see you
later. I then
went and got my haircut after the haircut I stopped at the
college to wish those that I worked with as a work-study a
Happy Thanksgiving.When
I got there, there was a message to call home.I called home and my
uncle answered the phone and told me to come home as it looks
bad but wouldn't tell me what.I then took a bus home from the college.At that time there
was a detour on my bus route which brought me a block away
from my house.As
the bus was approaching the bus stop I could see from the
bus that my older brother’s pickup truck was at our house.It wasn’t looking
good since I knew my brother should be working.Yes the worst
had happened my Father had dropped over dead from an abdominal
aneurysm.We knew
he had it but in 1980 there were no procedures to repair it.And now if you
haven’t figured out how the story of my Father’s Stetson ends,
when the time came for the graveside committal service I told
the funeral director that I wanted the Stetson on top of the
coffin when it was lowered in to the grave.He asked me are you
sure that’s what I wanted.But that’s when I explained to him the conversation
that my Father and I had from Father’s Day.The only
Stetson hat that my Father every owned and only worn once now
rests with him for eternity.