Foot Steps on Life's Path

I have always been fascinated by shoes.  Of all clothing accessories, shoes

are my favorite.  I fondly remember each pair of new shoes throughout my

childhood.  

We begin our lives wearing the sweetest little shoes.  Shoes that will never 

wear out because they are more for the benefit of the parents than the baby.

Tiny little bits of fabric beautifully embellished with satin and lace and

the tiniest of buttons.  Shoes that will be photographed on tiny little feet and

then stored away for years in a box.

They are passed on and treasured mementos of a time that will never return.

Beloved Mary Janes, worn with party dresses yet no longer perfect

because the desire to run and jump and play is overwhelming.

Shoes can also tell a story of the path we choose to take in this life.

I once knew a brilliant physicist who wore old worn shoes and the

soles of his shoes were full of holes covered by Duck Tape.  He 

could have purchased new ones, but he thought they were still

perfectly usable and he didn't care because his mind was always

researching cosmic rays.  I admired him because he blazed

his own trail in worn out, unfashionable shoes that suited him

just fine.  To him, function won out over form.

I also knew a young man who loved to wear conservative

wing tips.  They suited him perfectly because he was

priggish, had an excellent mind for business, and knew he

was going places.  At the time I remember thinking they

looked like something a middle aged man would wear and

not the preferred shoes of a twenty something.  Frankly, he

annoyed me and he eventually became a hedge fund manager.

Those shoes were perfect for him.

It's also easy to tell which coast someone is from by the 

type of shoes they wear.  Take my husband for example.

His closet is full of Sperry Topsiders and Allen Edmonds

loafers, worn without socks.  Although he was born in

Texas, he spent much of his youth in boarding schools on

the east coast and their style is reflected on his feet.

While living in the Middle East, I saw many men

wearing sandals that looked to be as much in fashion 

then as they once were in Biblical times.

Shoes take so many forms, from the practical to the 

status symbol.  A person's social status can be read in

moments by what they are wearing on their feet.  Fights

have broken out over special shoes.  Children have cried

because their shoes are not the current fashion craze or

sadly because they have none to wear.  

I love pretty shoes and always have.  However, when I 

think about it, the physicist with the old worn out shoes

is the one that always clings to my memory because the 

trail he was blazing in those shoes, would have an effect

on generations to come.

Have a great Monday filled with wonder and adventure.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley