Sean -- New Jersey

This is Sean. He used to be “Sean-pie” till he got big. His mom is my #1 best blogging and FB friend. Today is her birthday, too. Say, “Happy Birthday, Sean’s mom.” 

I digress. 

Sean’s Pop-Pop gave him this hat six years ago. Well, Sean, full of the most gracious manners on earth, bought Pop-Pop a replacement hat for his next birthday.  Now Sean wears this hat every chance he gets!  (You can visit Sean and Pop-Pop here, back in 2008.)

And his next chance to wear his awesome hat is a school dance. Sean specially selected all the cool clothes you see here for that school dance.
 

Who’s the lucky girl, Sean? She’s gonna love your tie, too.

Sally Rose -- Missouri

My friend Sally. A prolific writer and wearer of
cowboy hats whether she needs 'em or not.

“I can wear a hat, too, Paul!” she yelled when she saw me.

“I see that!” I said. “And you look good in it, too,” I told her. “Lemme take your picture for My Hats Blog.”

So she let me take her picture while she was working at our writers’ conference Check-In desk last November.

“Oh, you know, I grew up in Oklahoma and wore a cowboy hat all the time. Moved up here and only wear it once in awhile now. But I like your hat, Paul.”

(I like it when people say, 'I like your hat, Paul.')

I see her every month at other meetings. We’re good friends and she always finds a way to tease me about something. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jeannine -- North Dakota

My niece Jeannine had a major flashback recently. She found this picture of herself from back in the late 60s/early 70s when she was a kid. Her family (my brother’s family) lived near San Francisco CA during the height of the Haight-Ashbury “Human Be-In.” I think she has always longed to “be-back-in” there. Well, she sure has the hat for it.

I never saw Jeannine with such long, thick blond hair. Lucky her. It’s still a beautiful blond color, but not as long. Not long after that “bad hippie” influence on his kids, my brother brought them all to The Heart of America. 

Jeannine now lives in North Dakota. (Brrrr!) She and her husband have started sending me a railroad calendar for Christmas every year. 

Railroad calendars are almost as cool as hats.
Can you guess what month that is? It's 2014.