Old Shoes

Keepsake Photos
Originally uploaded by shanady

They are broken and she outgrew them already but I wanted to hold on to them and reminisce those memories that came with the short journeys of her shoes.

Her first shoes are her blue Minnie Mouse Denim shoes from her Ah-uhm (aunt). She still cannot walk then. I used to match these shoes with her low waist denim pants and in one of our shopping trips to the fruit shop, the cashier exclaimed, "Oh I just love babies wearing jeans! And she has shoes to match!"

I remember washing them when the soles turned so filthy from her practice walks. Kayis tend to hold on to the soles when she's just sitting down.

Second pair is the pink Mickey Mouse from Ah-uhm. They're one size bigger from her first one. There were a few times I had difficulty matching it with her clothes. When they got to the stage of too filthy and I wanted to give them a good wash, I noticed the soles were already torn out.

Third pair is the white ballerina type of shoes. Ah-uhm even asked me to pick it from the website. By this time the shoes for Kayis' age and size have hard soles. But I still wanted soft soles ones because Kayis was not walking on her own yet and I wanted shoes that would help her walk easily without having her to deal with managing her shoes as she walk. My sister-in-law found them and was even more excited about them than me.

The last pair in the picture are her Dunlop Volleys. A-pe (Eldest uncle) went to Target, saw these Volleys, decided Kayis must have them, cannot locate Kayis' size, asked Target to find one in their other branches, bought the original white with green lines for her, then found the pink Volleys in Broadway, went to Broadway to pick it up for her. I adore the pink Volleys. I try to put Kayis on them as much as possible. I feel they made her look so dressed-smart. We went to Taronga Zoo with those.

But finally they are all worn out and the soles are broken from her walking. I cannot keep them any longer so on one morning during the holiday season, I took them out, decided it is time for them to go, took this photo to remember them by and for Kayis' keepsake photo of her first shoes, gathered the courage and threw away Kayis' old shoes.

One day I will bring this photo out and show it to her and tell her the stories of these shoes.