Le Chapeau
(in Joan's words, loosely recorded)

We were shopping at an antiques fair deep in the south of France. It was a super hot and humid day, and we had been in the sun a long time. We were both feeling over-heated, but my motherly instinct had kicked in, and I was especially worried that Krissie might faint.

As we rambled through the outdoor isles of the market, we came across a lady wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat. It looked like the kind you'd find on the beach in Saint Tropez, with a colorful embroidered edge. Immediately, I went into action... my goal was to get that hat on the head of my fainting daughter. I surveyed the woman's booth, just a few old treasures gathered and sitting in the dirt, but enough to work with... a blue ticking-lined panier, a fire screen, a copper trough... and I asked, as politely as I could, in my very best broken French, that if we were to purchase all these items, could her hat be "un Cadeau?" (a "gift with purchase"!) to save my ailing daughter.

She retorted with a quick "no!".

But since we really did like the panier, fire screen and copper trough, we decided to buy them anyway! And suddenly, as we were collecting our things to leave, the dear woman's reserve broke down, and she simply walked over and placed the hat on Krissie's head. I still don't think she was happy to give up her chapeau, but her smile told us she was amused, none the less. Krissie still keeps that hat hanging happily in her family room, at the ready to guard against sunny days back home, a reminder of another one of our mother/daughter adventures!