An Old Pair Of Shoes

I will be writing of a very special person's life. An old pair of shoes have been found. As I place these shoes upon my own feet, I will become the past owner of them. Read on and enjoy!

"Hey, Lisa look here!" We are in the attic of our childhood home. We are, my sister, Lisa and myself. I have found an old pair of shoes, in an old, black trunk. Lisa looks over towards me and says, "Wow, I wonder whose those were!" I reply, "I believe they are quite old from the looks of them. I am going to try them on."

From the moment I place the shoes upon my feet, I become the past owner of them, and back in time I go - to the year 1944. Who do these old shoes belong to? Read on until the end, and you will know!

The babies are being born today. It is May 31, 1944. They are identical twin girls. The second one to arrive, will - in time, become the former owner of the old shoes.

I am a little girl, and my sister is my identical twin. Momma is in the kitchen with Daddy. They are sipping their first cups of coffee for the morning. My sister and I are up playing in the living room.

Soon, Daddy will go to work and Momma will attend to us girls. We are four years of age now. It has come to the year 1948. We have an older brother and an older sister too. Momma is going to have another baby soon.

Daddy drinks a lot and he smoke cigars. He can be awfully mean sometimes! Momma is seeing another man. We are at the other man's house now. Because we are only four years old, we do not understand what goes on.

Somehow Daddy found out that Momma's next baby is not his own. He is going to the other man's house and along with him, he carries his rifle. He is very angry! We are already there, and there are two women here. One of them is Momma and the other is the other man's wife. Things are about to explode!

The other man goes upstairs and Momma follows him. There is a lot of shouting and crying going on. Daddy had not arrived yet, as it was said he was on his way. Shortly after all of the shouting, one loud shot rings out! Momma comes running down the stairs, in quite a horrible state of shock!

It is found out later, that the other man had shot himself with a pillow over his head! He had known that Daddy was on his way! My sister and I are very frightened! Some twenty minutes later, there is a hard knock on the front door. We are all questioned by two State Police officers. Yes, even us two little girls! A most terrifying day it was!

The baby Momma is carrying in her belly, is soon born, and by our father - she is given away! Shortly after this, our Momma goes away. Oh, where has our momma gone, and why must she go away?

Another lady is soon appointed to be our caretaker. She has come to be in charge of us, but not to be Daddy's wife. We get to grow up on a farm with chickens and grapevines. Momma comes to visit now and then. She works for the carnivals, selling tickets, all around. She lives in another state. That state is called Mississippi.

I am a teenager now. I am sixteen and I have met a man named Earl. We are going to marry! The year is now 1960.

Between the time the twins were born (1944 - 1960), the twin who tells the story, it has been said, was emotionally abused by her father, at times. Also, keep in mind the departing of her mother.

I am married now, to the man named Earl. I am pregnant. At about five months along, I lose our first baby! After this we have seven children then, by my age of 32. Life gets tough here and there over our years together!

2019 - As I continue to walk in this person's shoes, I am able to feel all of her emotions. I am with my sister yet, but we have since left the attic of the old farmhouse. We had gone outside, for a long walk around the grounds. As we continue on our walk, back to the year 1978 we go.

Many hard and trying times, Earl and I would go through. We divorced, sadly then, in 1978. I am old and my heart is weary now, and it is worn. I cannot change my past, but I have learned much from it.

Lisa and I are back inside the farmhouse now, as we head up the attic stairs. I have just, in fact, taken off the old pair of shoes. As I am walking up those stairs, in my stockinged feet, I sigh a sigh of great relief! For, I know in my heart, that all will be well for the former owner of the old shoes. The old pair of shoes, spoken of throughout this story, was not just an old pair of shoes as one will see. As I have said, I felt every emotion the woman had felt and now, as I have learned to walk in someone else's shoes, there is a good lesson that is learned. It surely teaches us not to judge!

As I, myself have aged over time, it has been a long fifty-two years for me, but much longer for the owner of those old shoes! They had been in that old trunk for about fifty-four years. The old pair of shoes, I found and tried on, the ones from the old black trunk, to see how the owner of them felt at one time and in their reality, lived - they belonged to my Mother, a long time ago!