I’m exceptionally good at focusing on insignificant things in life, like the shoes I wear. I have that pair of shoes I had to buy for Winter Ball freshman year, with the one-inch heel, because I absolutely could not be taller than my date. I have four-year-old cheerleading sneakers that have been through endless practices and four state championship games with me. I have a pair of heels that make me six feet tall and I feel like I’m on top of the world when I have them on. I have a pair of white Converse that Alison spilled a blue slushy all over, but I couldn’t be mad because her and her boyfriend just broke up the day before. I have flip-flops that have walked the sands of many beaches, but my point is, is that every pair of shoes I own hold their own memories to me, and the list of things I’ve done while wearing certain pairs of shoes is endless.

There is one pair of shoes that are extremely important to me and they are my moccasins. I’m not even sure why I’m so obsessed with them, they are plain old gray moccasins that I bought for no particular reason in the Nordstrom’s shoe department at the Providence Place Mall. As I bought them I just figured they’d be a pair of shoes I was going to wear to school occasionally, not knowing that I would wear them every single day to school for almost 2 straight years. I have many pairs of shoes, I’d say too many but the limit for how many shoes I own is non-existent, but for some reason I always pick these moccasins to wear to school. Recently I was let down by my foot doctor that I should wear shoes that lace up for the next month because of a bump on my toe, but I’m fearless so that wont stop me from wearing my moccasins because I never think twice about wearing them, even with my newfound instructions from my foot doctor.

I have an attachment to a pair of shoes is what I’ve realized. It’s not that these are the only shoes I ever wear its just that these shoes hold some of my favorite memories. I think it’s important to focus on the small details in life because everything can go by like a whirlwind, I take things to the extreme and remember right down to the underwear I have on when something important happens to me. But a way of keeping memories in my life alive is to remember the shoes, or underwear, that I’m wearing when I do something. Every time I put on a pair of shoes I remember the last thing I did in them, who I was with or where I was going. I like that I’m capable of remembering things in my life just by putting on a pair of shoes, its almost like going through a photo album, and having all the “remember when” moments.

Things in life tend to go by fast, sometimes we experience no changes at all in our lives or way too many. I’m not a person that likes change. Certain things change very easily in our lives like relationships, maybe our grades, or even our surroundings. Since I don’t like changes at all I tend to hold onto things that are concrete and I know they cannot change. People can leave your life when they want to, shoes cannot, and neither can the memories we have made with these people while wearing certain shoes. My moccasins have done so many things with me, especially within the halls of my school. Junior year is when they started here. They didn’t get to experience awkward or overly dramatic moments freshman year or dull, boring moments sophomore year but they have been through two years of high school, and sometimes I think that may just be enough.

My moccasins have maybe attended more than 10 liturgies in the auditorium, two Christmas concerts, one cabaret, over 200 school lunches, and have easily sat through over 700 classes with me. Next year when they enter an unknown classroom instead of one here it’s going to be tough. It wont be with the teachers I’m so comfortable with, or in the chairs I’ve sat in for four years. It will all be new, but I have something that will always remind me where I came from. I’ve learned some of the most valuable lessons I will ever learn in life while wearing my moccasins. These lessons will travel to college with me and I will never forget the values instilled in them. Sometimes I find it hard to appreciate the education I’ve been given because of all the stress it puts on me, as much as I say I cant wait to leave my old school I know that once I’m gone I’ll be holding onto any memory I can of it.

Walking out of the cathedral will be hard because it signifies the end of my high school career. I wont have on my moccasins while I graduate because I never want to end their high school career. I want to hold my memories of my old school with me forever and I will do that through my moccasins. I am already on the search for white shoes for graduation, another pair of shoes that will hold more memories. They will go through class day with me, our pinning ceremony, and graduation and every time I see my white shoes I will remember my ending at this school. I’m happy that I’ll be able to say I don’t just have shoes that remind me of leaving but, I have my moccasins that remind me of my typical days at school, the days I want to remember the most. The other day I saw a photo that said, “Shoes make me happy. I’m superficial. Whatever.” I laughed because shoes do make me happy but in the least superficial way possible, and this picture reminded me of why I always look deeper into things. Now I challenge you to try to remember a few memories you’ve made in the shoes you’re wearing right now, the shoes might end up meaning more to you than you think. I’m sure some of the memories do make you happy, and not in a superficial way, in a way that people would never realize why shoes could make a person so happy.