Hard to throw away shoes

I’m not the kind of person to get attached to my things.

I think this has something to do with having been through a house fire as a teenager and losing everything I owned. If I need to throw something out, that’s that. Into the trash it goes and I move on with my life. However, I found it hard to toss a pair of shoes I’ve had for the past several years.

I can’t even remember when I originally bought them. They’re a pair of tennis shoes, colored two shades of gray and they’ve had to go for a while. The soles have worn to a smooth surface and portions at the soles are peeling from the shoe. It won’t be long before I’m pulling rocks out of the shoes.

But, I can’t bring myself to finally throw them out. These are the shoes that I’ve walked through the desert in while trying to get a good photo of a wildland fire. I’ve worn them while walking the muddy pits at the Sweetwater Speedway and as I walked through the forests of British Columbia. I wore them while wandering around Disneyland and while visiting Tokyo. There are a lot of memories tied to those shoes. However, I also recognize how silly it seems to hang on to a pair of shoes for sentimental reasons.

I also know my feet would likely be thankful for changing them out, if feet could communicate how nice it would be to get encased in a more comfortable setting while literally bearing the weight of their entire world.

It’ll happen. I will be forced to get rid of the shoes. As I’m walking away from the trash, I’ll likely reminisce about all the places those shoes have carried me.