My Squeaky Shoes

There are surely numerous reasons why these shoes squeak. They are old. They are what I used to call tennis shoes, although I have never played tennis so I really do not know what tennis player wear. I will not throw them out because they are full of memories and meaning. They were my brother’s favorite shoes. He wore them all of the time except when we went to Church and I would not permit him to wear them there. My brother, Bobby who was developmentally delayed, died in September 1997, although it seems only a few months ago. The shoes were his. The bottoms of the shoes are usually called the souls. That seems appropriate as our souls are what hold us together. The souls of those shoes have come loose in several places. However, guerrilla glue seems to mend them back together very efficiently—at least in my opinion. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that the shoes squeak. Their value is related to my brother’s memories; otherwise I suspect they are worthless and need to be replaced. An important life lesion is that there are some things in life that you cannot simply replace—my brother’s shoes are a wonderful example.