My Sister's Boots
Life seems to be an obstacle course sometimes, doesn’t it?
“EVERYTHING is either an obstacle to growth or an obstacle to keep you from growing. The good thing is: you get to CHOOSE”.
Three sisters on a road trip for a country music concert and to explore Ikea. (Can you believe we had never been to one?) The trip was one of a kind.
My younger sister and I had spotted a shoe warehouse having a clearance sale as we drove by and we couldn’t rest until we explored. My older sister was tired from all the other fun, so we settled her in at the hotel and off we went. Shoe shopping! What makes it even more exciting to me is that my younger sister had not always been interested in shoes. Gasp. (Oh, but it’s true.) So here we were finally shoe shopping together. I’m telling you it was a sister moment.
The warehouse was busy because this was seriously a sale. The boots caught my sister’s eye immediately and she never put them down the whole time we were shopping. Leather shoe and bottom, cloth pieced together patchwork style on the calf and then topped with leather. One of a kind boots in exactly her size. They were there waiting for her. We couldn’t wait until it got cold so she could wear them.
We were talking about obstacle courses, right? Before it got cold, my sis was happily visiting Seattle for a conference, and crashed on a Segway tour. I got on a plane to Seattle about the time she was rolling into surgery for multiple fractures of her ankle. No boots for a while. Recovery from this adventure took six months. In the interim, medication changed her body temperature or what I call her thermostat. No socks, sweaters, or boots were allowed near her. She described her life as eternal summer - in Phoenix. Her ankle had finally recovered with multiple pins and hardware intact. Now this.
One happy day recently, medication was discontinued. Finally her body temperature will allow socks, sweaters, and “the boots”. She took the boots out of the closet for their maiden voyage. Her ankle hadn’t returned to its original size. Damn obstacle courses. She kept the boots for a few months after that day. Looked at them frequently I’m sure. Hoping the ankle would eventually fit comfortably in the boot.
While I know it hurt her heart, I am honored to wear the boots she realized she would never wear. There seem to be many emotions connected to these boots and I feel them when I wear the boots. I feel thankful that I was there the day the boots spoke to her. I was witness to her excitement. I was part of the sister shoe shopping day. I remember the long, painful recovery from the injury. Giving herself shots so she wouldn’t end up with a blood clot. The loss of mobility and independence. The financial loss while she was home on leave. The stress of being told she might not have a job if she was out much longer. I feel all of those memories.
Today I wore the boots. While entering a restaurant with my husband for breakfast, the hostess announced at the top of her lungs “those are some good looking boots”. Everyone in the place, of course, had to turn and look. My sister would have loved that. Each time I wear the boots, people comment on them. The compliments belong to my sister. She and her boots have been on quite a journey. This reminds me to be grateful for even the small moments. Grateful that we had that road trip and that shoe shopping day. Too often life moves so fast that we forget to be grateful.
“Sometimes the smallest things in life have the biggest meaning”. Thank you, sis, for trusting me with your boots.