immortalizing my old friends - before it's too late

I try to think of myself as a woman of few vices.  Just a few.
 

If you took a look at these things, you would never guess that I happen to be a habitual shoe buyer.  If you took a look at these things, you would think that I own one pair of shoes and wear them every single day.  Half of that is true.

I don't know what the deal is with me and shoes.  I love to look at them.  And if I see a good deal, I almost always buy them, even though I have an unconscionable number of pairs in my closet that have yet to even be worn.  (I guess it could be worse.  I'm not really into "designer" shoes or anything.  I don't spend money well.  I'm cheap, remember?)

The truth is that I fall in love with certain pairs of shoes, and I wear them incessantly.  When I fall, I fall hard.  This is true in many areas of my life.  You get all of me or you get none of me.  None of this halfway business.  All of those shoes I buy and hoard are my reserves, just in case they're meant to be my next pair of wear-them-everyday shoes.  However crazy this sounds, I can't be the only person who operates this way. 

When I sat down in the dentist chair this afternoon, the hygienist said, "Look at those well-worn clogs.  I bet they're comfortable."  I replied, "They are!  I'll probably cry when they finally give out."  I bet she thought I was joking.  I was.  Kind of.  No, that's a lie.  I will totally cry.  Just like I cried when I threw those hideous plastic silver Nike sandals away.  I didn't care that they were ugly.  They were comfortable, and I wore them everywhere.  And then there's the fact that I still think about them...over seven years later.

I'm not sure what it says about your character when you get this emotionally invested in a single pair of shoes.  Probably not much.  I'm quite possibly more than a little shallow.

It's tough loving something so much.  You never think about having to live without them, until one day, it just happens.  So, yes, I got a little misty when the hygienist reminded me that these shoes had seen better days.  They're nearing the end of their well-worn life. 

You've been great, old friends.  Here's to as many more as possible.