New Shoe Blues

Day 34

These are my new shoes—Dianne got them over the weekend. They are HUGE but that’s OK. I actually need them huge due to a birth defect on my right foot. My little toe rides up on the toe next to it and will rub on the roof of shoes which have not been worn in. so the bane of my life have been new shoes. It seems that it takes at least a week of painfull rubbing of the toe against the shoe before there is enough wearing the shoe is functional. Being in the middle of ten children this issue did even come along till adolescence when I bought new red wrestling shoes. Brand new, fresh out of the box smell fire engine red with white stripes. ( I really wish I had an image of these to show.) This was very much the exception to the rule.

My shoes usually came from older brothers, cousins or second hand stores but mostly hand me downs. I really never considered anything else—I did not have a clue that others were getting new shoes every year or sooner. Actually, as I write this I remember a set of baseball cleats I got a year or so before the wreck—this I guess has to count as shoes. So yes, I did get new shoes but not many times. Again, usually by the time I got the shoes I was going to get the leather or cloth were worn to the point not hurting my toe when I put the shoe on for the first time.

I think I have unusually fat feet especially for crip feet. It’s not like I am standing on these t blocks flesh at the end of my legs eight hours a day to spread them out. So, I have learned if I purchase shoes large enough I can find a pair that reasonable fit with little discomfort. In order for a shoe to this wide the shoe ends up being long as skies. Life is a trade off. I figure the trade off is worth it since the shoe is going to last a long time, wearing out from the top down. I have a pair of waffle stompers I have had for 15 years that have almost new tread buy really worn out along the wholes where I pull the strings tight when tying the shoes up. Actually there are huge holes in the toe and round the top of the shoe from dog chewing. I know para s who have tennis shoes which have looked new for decades.

So, I have a brand new pair of shoes they are so huge i.e. wide, they barely fit in the Boing chair I push when I am work. I am getting used to the shoes and the chair now it has been almost four hours of wear. I think I will be able to make it through the day with out having to remove them. They are Timberlines over a hundred if not purchased on Sale. Dianne got them for $22.00 such a deal. Even if I just use these shoes for a paper weight the purchase risk is worth it. I think the shoes make my feet look huge is in long but who cares for leather, quality manufacturing and a little toe in comfort.