The man who took a wife with the help of a hat

"Crossing Delancey" wasn't our first date, but it was our first movie date. We saw it at the old-time movie theater on Union Street. (I don't have any specific memory of it, but I'm sure trying to find parking was a bear.) And yes, it's a great date movie. (Unlike, say, the double feature we ended up seeing on a subsequent outing: Salaam Bombay!, about the depressing lives of street children in India, and Pelle the Conqueror, about the depressing life of a Swedish boy who emigrates to Denmark. Which is how "Salaam-Bombay-and-Pelle-the-Conqueror" became our in-house shorthand for down-in-the-dumpsitude.)

If you haven't seen the movie, or if you did but have since forgotten (but how could you forget?), there's a scene in the movie where Amy Irving's character, Isabel (who's been uncooperative and exasperated with the efforts of her grandmother to hook her up with a marriageable partner, courtesy of the neighborhood matchmaker), receives a mysterious large box. It's opened to reveal a hat from the pickle-maker whom Isabel has been resisting. Much to her own surprise, the gift makes Isabel happy, and she tells her grandmother, "Bubbe, I'm being wooed."  And we see her sorta kinda thaw toward the pickle-maker for the first time. (C'mon, girl—it's Peter Riegert, for crying out loud!)

Not too long after seeing the movie, we were getting ready to head off on another adventure in the early chapters of The Eating Tour of San Francisco that was our courtship. We had to stop off at the barracks for something, I think is how it was put. Once we were there, a big box came out of nowhere and was handed to me. It was a hat box from Macy's. Inside was a hat. (A great hat.) I was dumbfounded (and being dumbfounded, I hope I managed to blurt out a "thank you", but I don't remember being able to say anything else). You see, it was still a little early in our getting to know each other for things like Gifts. So there I was, speechless. And he had only one thing to say: "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I do.

Happy anniversary, honey.

The hat.

Comments

[avril]

What a charming story! Happy Anniversary.

[Kathy]

It made my eyes kind of fill up. Must be the hormones acting up, don't you think?

[John]

Gee! It made my eyes fill up too. Happy Anniversary! Since you don't remember, we parked in a parking garage a few doors from the theater. Glad you accepted the hat.

[Chan S.]

Avril and Kathy, thank you!

John, after a whole year and a half, we finally have our first Spousal Comment. Woo hoo!

[Anita]

Great story! Happy belated anniversary to both of you!