A Pair of Shoes

A Pair of Shoes


I am wearing a pair of shoes.

They are ugly shoes.

Uncomfortable shoes.

I hate my shoes.



Each day I wear them,

and each day I wish

I had another pair.


Some days ...

my shoes hurt so bad

that I do not think ...

I can take ...

another step.


Yet ... I continue to wear them.


I get funny looks

for wearing these shoes.



I can tell in others eyes

that they are glad

they are my shoes

and not theirs.


They never talk about my shoes.



To learn how awful my shoes are

might make them uncomfortable.



To truly understand these shoes

you must walk in them.




But, once you put them on,

you can never take them off.



I now realize that I am not the

only one who wears these shoes.


There are many pairs in this world.


Some women ache daily

as they try and walk in them.


Some have learned how to walk in them

so they don't hurt quite as much.


Some have worn the shoes so long

that days will go by before they

think about how much they hurt.


No woman deserves to wear these shoes.


Yet ... because of these shoes,

I am a stronger woman.


These shoes have given me

the strength to face anything.


They have made me who I am.


I will forever walk in the shoes

of a woman

who had to disrupt her adoption

in order to protect.

the other children in her home.

I will forever walk in the shoes

of a woman

who struggles

with

depression and anxiety.