The Back Story

I made a purchase at Goodwill this afternoon and two of the items I purchased were ladies' hats. I thought both were vintage but discovered only one could make such a claim. However, I was thrilled to find out that the less vintage hat comes from a store that sells very pricey hats. What a find, right?

History has always intrigued me. The details captivate me. The passing of time. The enduring qualities of that which remains much talked about. And then there are those things which we know little about... ever mysterious, ever elusive. Whether it's traditional history such as learning about George Washington in our school textbooks or learning about family scandals involving ancestors long gone or trying to figure out the story behind a hat you picked up at a Goodwill because it looked pretty, history has always been a mainstay in as far as interests goes. Tracking down the story, the history, doing the research to learn more about an object or person or place... You could call it a hobby.

I thoroughly enjoy getting lost in the historical foray for facts and stories and tidbits of information. Sometimes I come up with pages and pages of information, other times I might get enough to fill one sentence. In the end, it's the happy and gratifying feeling that I own a piece of history, that I am a part of history, that my possession of some thing or some knowledge adds to the story.

History, in my opinion, is one of the most relevant subjects/topics. We're constantly living in it, contributing to it. And I'm ever baffled by the short visit that time makes. It is present one moment; it joins the past - what we call 'history' - in the next.

So... when I look at my hats, or my vintage pearls, or my broken engraved I.D. bracelet, I ask and I wonder: where did you come from? who owned you? and why are you here now?