Fifteen years ago I bought a pair of Fryes. Fifteen years ago! Remember the grunge era? I was living in Miami, Florida. Those boots saw Billy Joel backstage, the Miami Dolphins from inside the jumbotron and far, far too many fashion shows to count. The boys we dated..oh the boys we dated;) We drank together in Key West. South Beach. Atlanta. Oh, heck.. all over the Southeast.
Then the big move to DC. They came too. We went to the Clinton-Gore Innauguation together (of course I remember the outfit). We worked at the AIDS memorial quilt, the last time it was ever displayed as a whole, on the Mall. We saw David Bowie!! I walked everywhere in DC, and flat boots were my best friends. DC was fun, but she's from Boston. We packed up and headed home.
A new job in Boston and New York. Marriage. Pregnancies. All three of 'em. My feet would get so swollen, and the only shoes that would fit.....Fryes. After giving birth, trying to look respectable and not fall prey to sneakers and sweats, my friend, the fryes. Eight years later and I still pull them out every fall except this fall was different. This time I wore them and something wasn't right. The stitching, loose since last year had just disintegrated. My feet were just hanging out, and like the tree in The Giving Tree, the boots had nothing left to give me. Sigh. It was time to move on.
Some people called me crazy when I bought those shoes. You're spending what? On a pair of boots! You're living on rice and beans! Living in a studio! Carrie Bradshaw hit the nail on the head
I like my money right where I can see it. In my closet.
Maybe not always the case, but in this case, those boots lived a good life, and have a story, or two, to tell up in shoe closet heaven. And me? I have an open space in my closet, ready to fill with all kinds of new stories.
-Do you own any items of clothing that have been with you forever? Tell a story? Funny? Sad? Share it!
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