Sheila
Schaeffer-Hirsh
"First Lady"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
I was a little girl when Jackie Kennedy was the first lady. Enamored by her style, her grace, her clothes I was especially taken by her pill box hats. I really wanted one. Jackie’s term as first lady ended suddenly and I grew up and forgot about pill box hats.
Years later my husband came home and told me he was going to be the president of a small laminating company his mother had started. Well, if he was The President, I guess that made me The First Lady…..of LAMINATION!!!!! Did being a first lady change my life? NO. But it was good already.
I decided to make a laminated pill box hat. My dilemma: I needed to laminate something meaningful to my life. One day I opened a drawer and found all my old date books. The pages of my history became my hat. I laminated them and connected them with snaps. I trimmed the hat with Snap Tape, embellished it with French Lace and an antique button.
So where was the wisdom in this hat? I was clueless. Then I visited my uncle. At 93 he is frail, but has an undaunted spirit. When I asked him, “What is your philosophy for life?” he said, “I appreciate every day.” That is the perfect wisdom for my hat!