July 14, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. Shoes.

Shoes last for a long time, at least, mine do. But every so often, my shoes let me down. After our ladies lunch, Christina took me to the bank to get cash for the trip. When walking into the bank, holding on Christina's arm, looking like a proper lady, the whole sole of my left shoe fell off. All of a sudden I was limping. It took a few steps to figure out what had happened but eventually, Christina rescued the sole and put it into the car, after which we proceeded into the bank, pretending that I was not wearing half a shoe. I was amazed how an inch difference from one shoe to the other causes problems with your gait. But I proceeded as if I looked normal. When I was back in the car and inspecting my shoe I could see that the whole sole had been unglued so I intended to have the shoe repaired. Christina asked me how old was the shoe and I had to admit that the shoe must be 25 years old. The shoe was a light brown flat sandal made of leather. When I got home and showed the shoe to our new helper Kaila, she noted that my right sole seemed to be coming apart too. When I checked it, the front of the sole broke in two. My shoes are now in the trash. I even know what happened to that shoe. I took the shoes to the ranch and kept them in our top house. One summer, the air conditioner in the second floor did not work so the temperature got high, causing the glue to fail. One night when we were out to dinner at Karen and Jacque's home down the road, my black sandals fell apart bit by bit. Big hunks fell off whenever I walked around the house. My great pair of black sandals went into the fire and Karen graciously picked up my mess. That was many years ago. I do believe that I had not ever worn those brown sandals since we brought them to Mississippi from the ranch and the hot room. But I hate to see good comfortable leather shoes die. I am easy on shoes so I expect them to wear forever, even when I do not wear them anymore. But my light brown sandals are now in the trash. I bet I never miss them but I am still irritated.