a different kind of list - shoes and memories

My loved ones are always teasing me about the number of shoes that I have. What they don't understand is that for me, my shoes are my memories. Some people look at pictures that remind them of times past. I put on a pair of shoes and am reminded of things. So here are some of my shoes and the memories that go along with them.

1. Lime green no-back gymshoes. My boyfriend had taken a day off work and spent it downtown. Carson's was closing and he went shopping. He picked me up from work, and told me he had a surprise for me. That surprise was those shoes, which he picked out in my favorite color.

2. Pointy-toed black stilettos. The kids and I were shoe shopping. I was on the phone with my boyfriend, and this was in the beginning of the relationship. We were talking, and something that he said stopped me in my tracks. I felt as if everything around me ceased to exist and at the one moment in time, I knew just how deep a connection he and I had.

3. Rose-colored flip-flops. They were my beach shoes. Every weekend I was at the beach. Those shoes were dirty and worn out and weren't good for walking anywhere but on sand, but I loved them.

4. Knee-high black boots. My first pair of knee-high boots and oh how I love them. I had never owned anything so feminine since I became a mom, and they definitely made me feel like I was a woman.

5. Shell-toed white gymshoes. I remember when I bought my house all the hard work that we put into it to get it ready to move into. They were filthy and covered in paint, spackle and sawdust, but every time I put them on I knew that I was accomplishing something.

I own over 50 pairs of shoes, and while some of them don't carry the strong memories that others do, each and every one of them mean something to me. They are my life, my past, my present, and my future. Each pair, as different as they may be from each other, is a little part of what makes me me.