Thankful #8

Thankful #8: My Converse

If I were in that shoe commercial, you know the ones where each shoe represents a different person? Well, I'd be a black chuck taylor.
They represent, to me, the essence of who I am. Pretty silly, I know, to find personal meaning in a shoe. But I love them, especially when I slip them on with work clothes, quietly hiding under my gray dress pants. It's a way to feel like myself in an environment that is so void of personality.
My Ma-chelle gave me my first pair. Red in color with our own personal doodles. I wore them everywhere, including white water rafting. They worked like a charm when it came to wedging my feet under the raft but the shoes, well, they weren't designed for extreme sports. They were so filthy and torn by the end of the trip I had no choice but to throw them away.
I have wanted (longed!) for a pair ever since, never quite being able to bring myself to pay the $40 for them. Such a low amount for something I wanted so fiercely.
I never had the money when I saw them in the store and when I did have the money, they never had the size, color, etc. I asked for them for multiple Christmases and birthdays. When I was pregnant, I even intended to buy a pair to wear in my maternity pictures. By that point I was too tired to walk across a parking lot much less pick out a pair of shoes.
It wasn't until my 24th birthday last year that R&A finally got the hint and bought them for me. I love those shoes, wearing them daily.
They make me feel young. Ridiculous, I know, coming from a 24 year old. Yet when I feel the weight of my life bearing on my shoulders, my shoes help me feel a little more like myself. A little cooler. A little more hip.
Right now my shoes are sitting on the kitchen table, absolutely filthy from wear. This rainy season has proven a formidable opponent to my shoes but my soles will have to talk when I walk before I throw them out.
Now I'm off to google if I can throw them in the washing machine or not....