About my Feet

I have become like one of Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters trying valiantly to slip an outsized foot into a glass slipper. These, however, are black leather boots. Five pairs to be exact. I have returned three—and kept two out of desperation.

Neither pair is comfortable, but I have to have something to wear this winter. These are not snow boots. They are simply boots—one pair a more fashionable version of combat boots, the other something I might wear to shul.

But they hurt. Because I have bunions and crooked toes. Because I wore sandals all summer and sneakers when I exercise. Because the back of my foot is skinny, and the front is wide.  Because the podiatrist says I am old.  Well, actually he is kinder. “Older,” he tells me. “It happens as we get older.”

Okay, so I am older. My husband laughs half kiddingly. “Maybe you should wear fuzzy socks and sandals all year long”

Not funny.  I know exactly what he means. I’ve seen them before, the women in their socks and slip on shoes.

Not yet, I say. I will defy nature. Despite my age, the bunions and the crooked toes, I will wear boots.