The Black Hat with White Flowers

Sometimes I find something I really like—a dress, a sofa, a table —and it’s only after I’ve bought it that I’ll realize why I like it: it reminds me of something from my past. Thus I’ve ended up with a sofa the same blue as one my grandmother had, a shirt the same coral of an evening dress my mother had, and an kitchen table that is reminiscent of one my grandmother painted.

So when my friend Pat gave me this hat, I instantly loved it. It was only later that I realized it reminded me of a dress I’d had a as a little girl (maybe five years old?), that was navy or black with white daisies on it. I loved that dress so much that I remember spilling something on it and being so upset that my father instantly cleaned it with the nearest thing to hand—shampoo.
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Having acquired the hat, I knew immediately why I liked this daisy shirt when I saw it online. It spoke to me of the long-gone dress the same way the hat did. Why not put them together?