In memory of a hat.

When Esther was younger, my Uncle Nick and Aunty Lian gave her a pair of Dora The Explorer jeans jumpsuit that came with a matching bucket hat. While it took her some time to actually become comfortable with the jumpsuit, she practically wore her hat everywhere, whether at home or outside! Unfortunately, we lost the hat some time ago... It was rather sad to depart with something that carried lots of memories of the adventures it had with its owner.

So instead of still feeling so miserable about it, here's a little something I sketched in remembrance of Esther's ol' pal...


Sketched on November 27, 2011(still have a long way to perfecting my sketching skills)

The original picture:

A lovely child with a lovely hat, yes? - with Uncle Yeow Yang.
Picture taken on April 30th, 2010.

After it went missing, Esther would sometimes forget that she had lost the hat, and would keep looking for it. I don't know what she truly felt each time she was reminded that it was no longer around, but I remembered as a kid, I was never happy losing things I loved. Since then, we tried looking for a replacement. One hat after another, of different colour and sorts, she rejected the idea of a new hat...

...that is, until Esther received a new hat from her papa from one of his work trips to Australia. Unlike the other, it was a striking apple green.

Now, she loves it to bits - it's even faded with stains, proof of their expeditions together.

But when she looks back at pictures of her wearing the jeans bucket hat, she'd always tell me, "Oh look! Remember last time... Esther's favourite hat?"

Some memories will never go away.