I am a bit surprised I never have blogged my shoe story. It says a lot about me and my thinking, and not sure why that is important, but still one of my fav stories.
I arrived at the University of Alabama in August 1984. One of my grad students was a M.S. student, Jan Morris, the niece of a Ph.D. student, and Jan was from Decatur or some other North AL town. In those days, UA had a contest, open to anyone, to pick the theme for homecoming.
As a competitive cuss, and with an occasional creative whim, I was all in. I thought about it, and fairly quickly came up with "Alabamagic"! I told Jan and she immediately sketched out a drawing of a magician pulling an elephant (symbol of UA) out of a top hat.
We entered our creation into our first competition... and won! So what's that got to do with shoes?
Well, we won a $100 gift certificate at a local men's store. It was only right to equally split our winnings, so I went down to the shop to spend my winnings. I wanted to get something useful, and I'm not much of fashion plate, so went with shoes, these shoes.
I have worn them, pretty steadily since fall, 1984, that is a bit over 34 years! I had them resoled about 19950, but it was pretty pricey. I took them with me to Jordan when Brenda and I went to a Sport Conference in 2006. for only about $6 US, I got them resoled again- Jordanian style, which involved a lot of little nails.
So here it is, 2018, and I wore them to church today. But alas, like all things, their days are numbered. One of the soles has a small split in it and the heels have worn down to the leather. They have been comfortable and a joy to wear, plus I get a small thrill from time to time when I think of how they came into my possession.
G^d is a GREAT giver of gifts, and G^d can keep things, including sandals, from wearing out. These shoes have lasted a long time... but their service is mostly done. It will be sad to see them go.
I arrived at the University of Alabama in August 1984. One of my grad students was a M.S. student, Jan Morris, the niece of a Ph.D. student, and Jan was from Decatur or some other North AL town. In those days, UA had a contest, open to anyone, to pick the theme for homecoming.
As a competitive cuss, and with an occasional creative whim, I was all in. I thought about it, and fairly quickly came up with "Alabamagic"! I told Jan and she immediately sketched out a drawing of a magician pulling an elephant (symbol of UA) out of a top hat.
We entered our creation into our first competition... and won! So what's that got to do with shoes?
Well, we won a $100 gift certificate at a local men's store. It was only right to equally split our winnings, so I went down to the shop to spend my winnings. I wanted to get something useful, and I'm not much of fashion plate, so went with shoes, these shoes.
So here it is, 2018, and I wore them to church today. But alas, like all things, their days are numbered. One of the soles has a small split in it and the heels have worn down to the leather. They have been comfortable and a joy to wear, plus I get a small thrill from time to time when I think of how they came into my possession.
G^d is a GREAT giver of gifts, and G^d can keep things, including sandals, from wearing out. These shoes have lasted a long time... but their service is mostly done. It will be sad to see them go.
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