The Disney rasta hat
Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 11:45PM 
Last time we went to Disney was, like the previous two trips, over New Year's. Just the six of us then. Anyway, it was New Year's Day itself and we're in Epcot, and it's frickin' freezing, so I'm buying these four-fingered Mickey gloves cause we's suffering for some hand coverings.
Somewhere along the line we pick up this Disney rasta hat that's pretty popular. I think it's officially a Goofy hat for some reason (that queer movie with his kids?). Knit-style head-covering cap with over-the-ear-flaps with ties, but the draw is the neon rasta lengths that extend from the top. I can't remember who gets it, but we bring it home and I think to myself, nobody is ever going to wear that . . . so distinctly Jamaican get-up.
Flash forward three years (?) and we have two girls from Ethiopia, which has its own, deep, strange, worth-researching historical-cultural-all-sorts-of-things link to Jamaica.
And it turns out my now-youngest, Abebu, who lacks her older sister's long locks, simply loves this hat and wears it ALL THE TIME.
I come up tonight from the basement and I notice it in the hallway, telling me she got up to go to the bathroom because when I chased her to bed tonight, she was wearing it.
And it's so totally her in so many appropriate ways, that it just makes me laugh at the end of a shitty year that's just gotten a whole lot shittier lately.
So you remember to appreciate your kids. Stuff and situations and challenges, they come and go, but your family--done right--stays on. It is a primal connection, whether you're a plank-holder or just three months on the squad. Doesn't matter. You're in all the way.
And they bring you so many delights, that it makes everything else worthwhile--or just bearable.
Reader Comments (6)
It has been a tough year. Hoping that the next one gets a bit easier for you, and the rest of us.
Not complaining about the economy. More of a personal journey for me. But yours is a good and kind thought. Stressful year for so many people that it's worth remembering. And it's good to have a life that connects you to other people's joys and sorrows. It's all that really matters in the end.
The economy has been difficult, but we've weathered it reasonably well so far.
I was actually referring to personal journeys, but kept it abstract. It is the personal connections in life that matter, no doubt. The concatenated relationships one builds over time sustain through those sorrows and help maintain perspective in difficult times. They also help with long term happiness and provide support to others during periods of personal strength. There is no mistake in the research that indicates that a life, well connected (through good times and bad) keeps people healthy, longer.
Very well said.
whatever the Globe is today, will pass away tomorrow. But, FAMILY goes on for eons. Your time, and heart, spent there is the finest work you will ever do.
We have a rasta hat kicking around here somewhere. Rastafarianism is a big link between Ethiopia and Jamaica, with Haile Salassi being the Lion of Zion and all that. Jamaicans look to Ethiopia the way some Catholics look to the Vatican. In exchange, Ethiopians get massive 'riddim' and one-drop bass lines from Jamaica.
Watching kids grow and helping them become adults is one of the most satisfying of human interactions. And like you say, they bring joy in the midst of shitty times.
In my book, you're a good dad.