Sally, Sweet Sally, Where Art Thou?

This past winter, my dad knitted Savvy a warm and wooly hat. She loved it so much that she wanted to wear it everywhere. Unfortunately, the hat was a multicolored maroon, forest green and white - so it didn't match a lot of things. Plus - it was a little large on her head. Apparently, she chose the biggest hat rather than the one that fit her head. Savvy wore it so often that I begged her to stop the insanity. When she asked why - I finally told her it was because she looked like a thug. I mean she really did. We then started calling it her "thug" hat. Once Grandpa realized that the kid wore his thug creation everywhere, he accepted my petition for a new hat with a more neutral color scheme. He chose a nice navy blue and gave it to her over the Christmas break. He made it in just her size and she was thrilled beyond belief. She even went as far as to name her hat "Sally". A big improvement over thug. Sally became a member of our family - almost to the point of embarrassment. There were only three places she wasn't allowed to wear her hat - one was to church, the second to bed, and third was to school. If I had known how often Sally was going to invade family parties, Christmas morning, shopping, going with friends, hanging out inside the house, etc. - I'm sure I would've put even more limitations on her hat wearing. Unfortunately, no one could've guessed the love that Savvy would have for Sally.

Obviously, I didn't have a great love for Sally. But DH absolutely HATED the hat! Everytime he came home from work he'd comment - I haven't seen the top of your head in months. He'd even take it away from her to let her "head breathe". He tried everything to have her give Sally a rest. Sally became her security blanket - and Savvy refused to go anywhere without it. Savvy wore it so much that it started to get all balled up and nappy.

As the days got warmer, DH and I reminded Savvy that Sally would have to go into retirement for the spring/summer/fall months. We set a Sally Moratorium date of March 20th (the first day of Spring Break). Secretly, DH and I would rub our hands together in glee as we thought of Sally's last day on this earth--because we both knew that Sally would not be returning for another winter in our household. We had decided that Sally would ride with us to AZ to visit friends. On the long car ride, Sally would need some air. As DH gave Sally air outside the window - he would "accidentally" let go - and Sally would spend the rest of her days keeping a cactus warm on those cold desert nights.

Spring Break was only a week away, when Savvy brought to light some horrible news. She had LOST Sally at the swimming pool. "Oh cruel, cruel, world!" she dramatically cried. "Why couldn't you wait a few more days? I didn't even get to say goodbye!"

"TGIG!" (thank goodness it's gone) DH and I secretly whispered.

It's possible that Grandpa might make Savvy a new winter hat for next year - maybe he'll even make 7 or 8 hats for her in shades of light pink, sage green, pale yellow, light blue, navy blue, white, & cream (hint hint) - but Sally will always have a warm (albeit somewhat uncomfortable) spot in our hearts forever.