The Wedding Hat

Jane Scoggins 

The little boy was in awe of the lady with the big hat.  Henry had never been to a wedding before and he had never seen such a large hat. Henry guessed it must be a hat because it was on the lady’s head. He had seen grandpa’s flat cap and the yellow hard hats of the workmen on the building site near his house. He also had his own experience of wearing a stripey beany hat in cold weather. But the hat in front of him was something quite different and needed a lot of looking at to gain as full an understanding of it as possible. He tried to make some sense of it. There was a lot to take in. The wide brim of the hat was loaded with flowers of different colours, Henry counted five different colours, but thought there may be more that were hidden. Without actually reaching up to investigate more thoroughly Henry could not be certain. The hat had a wide round brim that shaded the lady’s face so he was not sure if she could see him gazing at her. This was just as well as he had been told, on more than one occasion, that staring at people was rude and they generally didn’t like it. The brim Henry thought was rather like the big china plate that grandma had on her dining room wall. He had often stood and stared at that too as he could not imagine why a plate would be on the wall and not on the table or in the cupboard. One day as he stood staring at it Grandma had explained that it was the meat plate that had belonged to her own grandmother. She had very happy memories of big Sunday dinners with all the family around the table. It was old and fragile now and grandma wanted to keep it safe. She had thought it best to put it on the wall where everyone could see it and she could remember her Grandma every time she looked at it. The flowers on the hat reminded Henry of his grandad’s garden in the summer. Grandad said that the flowers were to be enjoyed by sitting in the garden amongst them and only very occasionally allowed Grandma to cut a few to put in a vase or give to Henry’s mum on her birthday, which was in July. Many times Henry had sat on the garden bench in the summertime with Grandpa sipping his mug of tea. They would sit watching the bees and butterflies hovering in and out of colourful petals of the flowers and blossoms.

When Henry’s mother noticed that he was staring at Mrs Ponsonby Smyth’s so long and so intently she called him away and took him with her into the little village church and sat him next to her on the pew. She was relieved to see that Mrs Ponsonby Smyth was sitting in a pew ahead of them so that if Henry continued to be obsessed with gazing at her most extraordinarily over the top creation of a hat, at least she would not see him staring fixedly at her. Henry’s mother and at least half of the congregation would also have liked to stare at the creation on Mrs Ponsonby Smyth’s head that dominated most of the space around her in the diminutive church, but knew that it would be very bad manners and therefore resisted. Henry’mother was not the only person in the church that day that felt a bit sorry for the ladies who had decorated the flowers in the church for the wedding, as Mrs Ponsonby Smyth’s hat far outweighed their more modest arrangements.

  The wedding service went ahead and Henry’s mother was relieved that Henry, who was not accustomed to attending church, sat quietly, and did not attempt to chatter.  All the while, whilst hymns were sung and prayers said. Henry was thinking and trying to remember something. And then it came to him in a flash. He had worked out what it was about the big hat and what it meant to him. In his enthusiasm to share his understanding and in sheer relief that he had worked it out, he stood up and in a temporary silence whilst the congregation bent their heads in prayer, he said in a loud and clear voice

‘ CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG HAT’

 There was a ripple of stifled laughter throughout the church. Mrs Ponsonby Smythe was the last to realise what it was all about and when she did, sat down and looked embarrassed.  Fortunately, the service was at an end and the organist was able to strike up with the wedding march, and with all stops out the beautiful music filled the church and with the sun streaming in through the open doors the bride and groom turned from the altar to walk arm in arm down the aisle to the sound of clapping and music. The bride halted near Mrs Ponsonby Smythe as she remained sitting. Reaching down to her she said:

 ‘Thank you for coming Aunty May. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was the first of many films you took me to as a little girl and it has always been my favourite. Thank you for those memories on my special day.’

Mrs Ponsonby Smyth touched her niece's hand briefly and smiled. As the bride and groom swept down the aisle, Mrs Ponsonby Smyth tilted back her head and smiled at those around her. Everyone smiled back and a happy chattering congregation left the church for the reception.

  Henry and Mrs Ponsonby Smyth were seated near each other at the reception where, in between mouthfuls of cake, they had the opportunity to chat about favourite films.

 

 Copyright Jane Scoggins