New Shoes

A highlight when I was a child was getting some new shoes. I only got new shoes when I had outgrown my previous pair or had worn them out. I tended not to wear shoes out so getting a new pair was a treat. Though on one occasion when staying with my grandparents, my grandfather noticed I had worn through the soles of my shoes. I thought this would mean a new pair of shoes. Oh no. Grandpa went to Woolworths and bought some rubber stick on soles and some glue. He “repaired” the shoes – though they dried in such a way that the soles curled up meaning the shoes were unwearable. I had to have new shoes after all. Result!

At that time I probably had a couple of pairs of shoes to my name. Black school shoes (also worn to chapel on Sunday and for playing in brass band concerts) and plimsolls (“daps”)

As I grew older into my teens I acquired rugby boots, trainers and some casual shoes. But even then, I probably had no more than 4 or 5 pairs of shoes including the rugby boots.

Times change and I now have quite a few pairs of shoes. There are 2 pairs of Loake brogues (one black, one oxblood); another pair of black shoes I use when I am taking a burial (so as not to get mud on the Loakes!); 2 pairs of walking boots (one leather, one Gore-Tex fabric); a pair of brown deck shoes for smart casual; and two pairs of golf shoes (I only need one pair but I turned up to play golf on one occasion and had forgotten my shoes and had to buy another pair!) There are others too but these are the ones that spring to mind.

However, since my illness last autumn these shoes have remained under the bed unworn. My disability means I have to wear a lower leg brace and the footplate of this device won’t fit into my normal shoes. Consequently, for the best part of 4 months I have been wearing some canvas shoes that are really glorified daps with a Velcro fastening. £10 from Asda. The height of fashion but they do the job.

Just after Christmas we did buy a pair of Clarks slip on shoes that I could get the footplate of the brace into. Unfortunately they rubbed my ankle and I got a blister which became infected. (Thankfully healing now thanks to the wonderful nurses at our GP surgery.)

The Clarks have been consigned to under the bed (at least for now.) But I needed some smarter shoes. (As a cousin of mine said when he visited me in hospital and found me wearing my daps, track suit bottoms and a sweat shirt “Blimey Dave, you like something out of ‘Shameless!’ “) On the advice of one of the nurses Anne had a look at the web site of a company called Cosy Feet. They specialise in shoes with wide fittings.

I shuddered at some of the shoes. Think of the shoes your grandad would wear. But there was one pair that looked OK. Like deck shoes but with a Velcro fastening. We ordered a pair and they turned up on the weekend. They are great! I’ve got new shoes!

I could relate to Scottish singer Paulo Nutini’s song “New shoes”

Hey, I put some new shoes on
And suddenly everything is right
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on, and everybody's smiling
It's so inviting
Oh, short on money
But long on time
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine
And I'm running late
And I don't need an excuse
'Cause I'm wearing my brand-new shoes

Simple things.

Several years ago, the charity Christian Aid ran a fundraiser for Lent. It was called “Count your blessings”. The idea was that for every day of Lent people in this country would compare their lives to those of someone in the third world. For example, “Most people in Africa only have one meal a day. Give 10p for every meal you have had today.” I vaguely remember that one of these was about shoes and I know it cost me a lot of money!

But now I feel blessed to have shoes on my feet. I feel blessed that the medical care I have received, and continue to receive, means I have a leg brace on my leg.

Hey, I put some new shoes on
And suddenly everything is right