Memoir (new shoes)

It was the 15th of October 1947. Autumn had arrived and I was practically freezing to death already all because of my worn out wafer thin shoes. I had owned the shoes for years and they started breaking when my 16 year old brother had them. With supplies scarce from after the war it was hard to get a hold of new things in central London so I had to live with second hand items. Also with my father working day and night to keep us alive he never had any money left to treat me or my siblings.

But one day that all changed because in the morning of october the 15th 1947 my father told me he would take me to his work so I wouldn’t have sit around in the freezing cold all day. When we were walking to his work I saw some puddles from the night’s storm and I stood in one then it felt like someone was putting thousands of needles into my feet and I said to myself “I really need new shoes”. After a long day of helping my dad he told me to walk home and wait on the step I wondered what he meant but instead of questioning I did what I was told.

I waited on the doorstep for what felt like an eternity but I was told it was only about an hour. Then I saw my father approaching and he was carrying some strange package he came to me and handed it to me. I unwrapped it and saw the most wonderful thing, a new pair of shoes! Father told me and my mother he had gotten a promotion and raise but I wasn’t really listening I was to busy hugging my beautiful shoes. Now in the year of 2007 I am 72 years old and when I feel down or sad I go and sit on my step outside of my house and hug my 60 year old shoes.