First of all, let’s explain that “AVO” comes from the Portuguese word that refers to grand-father – “Avô”. The difference is that we removed the circumflex accent above the “o” that looks like a hat.
Well, for many years, I watched my grand-father going out with a hat. By the hat that he chose I could guess where he was going.
The wide-brimmed straw hat if he was going to work on the garden; the old felt hats if he was going somewhere close by; or the black felt hat if it was Sunday or if he was going somewhere special.
He used to grab them by the brim, with his index finger and thumb, put them on top of his head, where it seemed that they already had their perfect fit, because they would no longer move.
My Grand-father didn’t know that we don’t grab hats by their brim. I didn’t have the chance to warn him. Today, his hats still have the shape of his fingers. That simple gesture that deformed them, allowed it to stay with me (the mark of his fingers) on the hats that used to tell his days.