I asked my daughter if she wanted my 90s Doc Martens. They no longer fit me, as after childbirth and aging, my feet, like much of my body, have grown larger. My daughter wore them during her high school years but after asking if she wanted them, she responded, “no, I do not. I enjoyed them though. I have too many shoes.”
Too many shoes? Who IS this person? How can she possibly be related to me?
Today I muse joyfully on footwear, on dressing up the southern hemisphere of our bodies, and enjoying that wonderful fashion of shoes.
First of all, those Docs have literally traveled with me throughout my life – I wore them on my honeymoon to Mallorca, hiking in Alaska, in classrooms of New Hampshire. I delight in them as they bring me back to a time when I could run all day in Docs, walk miles and miles without worrying of bunions, or an aching back.
And today, while I no longer wear those specific shoes, I have replaced them with those I delight in – Birkenstocks, Adidas, Danskos.
The other day, I sat next to my friend, Anne, who was sporting lovely leather Clarks. They reflected a classic sense of style, the color a mahogany brown, the lace up leather so utilitarian and yet fashionable, they whispered “hey, I’m practical but I make a statement.”
And Anne and I chatted about shoes, about our delight in them. Today I walked my dog, Bennie wearing fleece lined Birkenstock boots I found on sale at Red’s Shoe Barn in Dover. They are cozy, practical, allow me to walk miles in comfort. Anne would approve.
When we talked of shoes, we both admitted we are passionate about footwear and, yes, probably have too many. And, yet, we both readily admitted that this obsession is not necessarily a bad one, shoes do need to be worn daily – as opposed to dresses or scarves or jewelry. We laughed at our commonality, Anne remarked on my sparkly sneakers, the glittery baby blue Steve Madden sequin adorned shoes that not only look fabulous, they took me on a beautiful walk on Rye Beach where I could outrun the incoming high tide.
It’s lovely to run in fashion.
And, it’s lovely to celebrate feet with adornment, with comfort, with style, with trending vibrancy and color.
As for my Doc Martens? I’ve spent the last 24 hours wondering what to do, where they may go, what my options are for footwear sentimentality. And then, it hit me like a ton of bricks, like lightening, the AHA moment arrived:
I’ll have them bronzed.
And, dear Joyful Musers, I hope you have a pair of shoes or 80 that you delight in, that transport you to your job or around town or simply stay in your closet and speak to you when you open the door and remind you of a gala or a trip or a moment in your life that sparkled.
I muse joyfully you do, If not, there’s a shoe sale somewhere.
Susan Dromey Heeter is a writer from Newmarket who recently let her hair go au natural white. Writing has been her passion since her English majoring days at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Dromey Heeter has lived in The Netherlands, Alaska and currently basks in all things New England, including the frigid winters. An avid swimmer, Dromey Heeter’s great passion is to bring back body surfing as most children have no idea how to ride waves without ridiculous boogie boards.