My Old School Shoes
Saddle Shoes, Keds, Saltwater Sandals
Almost always purchased by Mom from Nordstrom
I didn’t realize there was another store really
Pristine and perfect that Thursday before Labor Day in fall when we went back to our round pink stucco building
The one with the fifth-grade classrooms and library in the center
Where those shoes carried me from classroom to classroom
From multipurpose room to playground
Losing their squeaky-clean day by day
Until mid-June, when the souls were worn, and my toes were crunched, and it was time to buy my summer shoes
The First Day of School
Each year, I awaken my daughter to have her rush down the stairs toward the front door in her brand-new outfit complete with brand new shoes
As much as it’s important for her to be awake and ready for the school day, she knows that there’s a photo shoot before she walks out the door
Each year those footsteps become surer and heavier as she pads toward the exit of our house
Once so very tiny, her shoes have increased in size each year
Now she’s only three sizes smaller than me
I wonder if by the time she’s in high school she’ll be borrowing my shoes or I’ll be borrowing hers
Footprints
In Poway’s Green Valley, I took the bus one year
I would have to walk down the long winding private drive to the main road with a sidewalk in the morning
In the afternoon, back up the hill, over leaves, through the bamboo maze, sometimes up the grassy part of our yard, other times all the way up the asphalt drive
Each day, leaving a bit of an impression of those shoes my mom so carefully selected with me to be sure that my arches and toes and heels were supported
Those shoes would complement that perfect outfit hugging me all day we had to be separated, substituting for her hugs
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