Tell Me Thursday

Here is the explanation for yesterday's Wordless Wednesday. As I wrote yesterday, those two pictures are related. The link is the scuffed up shoes. I have always been unreasonably fond of old, broken in, scuffed up shoes. Until recently, I couldn't explain why. I just enjoyed the sight of them as I put them on in the morning and tied the laces.

At my birthday party last year, my mother created a poster board display with pictures of me through my childhood and among them was the other picture you saw in yesterday's post. On the left, you will see my mother's shoes sticking into the picture. They're old, broken in and just a little scuffed up.

I love this picture of me because it always made me feel special to my mother. The idea that she thought so much of me as a baby, that she climbed up on a chair to take a picture of me. This picture, more than any of the others, gives me a sense of belonging. I am my mother's daughter, I am part of a family and I am loved. When I look at this picture, I sense that I delighted my mother as a child and so when I see my scuffed up shoes, that sense resonates in me a new.

I've been through many pairs of old scuffed up shoes and have a terrible time letting go of them when it is time. Always wanting to wait until the new shoes are worn before throwing away the old ones.

I came to this realization some months ago and held on to the knowledge of it, keeping it to my self for just a bit longer. It was my special secret that I am now choosing to share with you in the hopes that you will tell me what you have that reminds you that you are special to someone.