Prized Possessions

Kids understand. Life is. Four simple words say it all. Mix them up or straight up the words make sense. I started the morning walking around in my socks. Students looked at me with big, questioning eyes, but they didn’t ask why. They were called to the “big” room for a special assembly today. I talked about how each of them makes a difference every day in small ways; watering our school plants, wiping their feet upon entering the school or taking turns on the playground. For these seven little students they understand their role in life as making a difference.

I shared the nursery rhyme with them… There was an old woman who lived in a shoe (it was the first time hearing it for all of them). The tale was animated and engaging and they loved the little poem. As I moved across the room, I segued into a Q & A time about: can you come to school without shoes; can you go into a store or restaurant without shoes… Eagerly they ate from the apple and replied a resounding “NO!” From there, the transition to a place far away where children walk miles for water or food or medical care without shoes came easily for the five and six year olds. They asked about sores and cuts and bruises and infections. Within no time, ALL OF THEIR SHOES CAME OFF. For several moments the students were engaged with shoes: for walking, hiking, dancing, sports and even cowboy boots! They stood tall and proud as we traced their feet on construction paper as a sign of their awareness of shoes and feet and children in need.

We all have shoe stories...

My first recollection of shoes and their importance in my life was a pair of cowgirl boots at the age of 10. I wanted cowboy boots, but I was told that ladies are not boys and hence they must wear appropriate shoes. I argued for about ten minutes. At the risk of loosing the prize, I knew immediately that this was not the horse I was going to be thrown from, so I pleaded for cowgirl boots.

For the first two years of high school, shoes were the very bane of my adolescence. A size six shoe was enormous and so I spent ten to twelve painful hours a day squeezing the life out of my feet and shrinking them to fit a size 5 1/2 . Most memories fade, but the cream colored, squared toe high fashion flats I purchased in France as a 16 year old turned my life around when my European adventures were cut short because of blisters on my aching feet.

Alas, thanks to the hippie movement I cut my feet free and went barefoot for two years. I spent most of my senior and junior year in high school mending stubbed toes but I was footloose and loving it.

The brand name had-to-have shoes in my 20’s included: Sperry topsiders, Candies, mules, slides, cork wedgies, platforms, mud lucks, spectator pumps, and (oh my GAWD I can’t get enough) espadrilles. But I knew I had to break this addictive cycle when I paid $294 for a pair of Ferragamo heels from Bonwit Teller in the early 80’s.

Busted flat in Baton Rouge (so to speak) I found consignment shopping in my early 30’s and I have been a changed consumer of shoes ever since. Today my closet spilleth over with shoes. I go so far as to have seasonal shoes that are packed up and revisited each spring/summer and fall/winter. But do not point your fingers at me or admonish me because a) I shop consignment and b) for every shoe I purchase I donate a pair to a charity. UNLESS, I am shopping with a cause… and then I shop TOMS!

Two days ago I received an email announcement from TOMS to participate in an awareness event. I was so touched by the cause that I wanted to share this with Dorazio Learning Center. We made a poster, I prepared a presentation for Kindergarteners/ First graders, and everyone removed their shoes without duress.

The shoe story goes ONE STEP FURTHER. The kindergartners offered that they were going to remember children all over the world and pray for them every night. And one first grader told me that she had three extra pair of shoes at home that she is going to bring to school to donate! That was the beginning of our own shoe drop. But wait, there is more. With recycling money we have made on campus, DLC is going to buy one pair of shoes to be donated with another to TOMS. Yet another way our young learners will make a difference.

Given the fact that in Ethiopia, one million people are suffering from a debilitating, disfiguring and curable disease (cured by just wearing shoes) and that TOMS donates one pair of shoes for each pair that is purchased… today, April 16th is ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES Day, and I AM BAREFOOT TODAY!

www.TOMSshoes.com