Shoes

Tonight I mourned the passage of youth in four little pairs of shoes. Earlier today my sweet little five year old brought me these well worn shoes informing me that she had outgrown them all. I believe it as some she’s had for over two years which is eons in a young child’s life. As I look at these shoes tonight, though, they bring me back to her little world, pink sparkly princess “ballerina” shoes, brown hello kitty loafers, pink satin "dress up" shoes I bought in Chinatown, and white princess sandals that survived the Houston summers. Each a great part of the make-up I view of her life. Why is it that shoes play such an integral part in the memory of a young child’s life? Is it because of the countless times we as mothers are asked if the shoe has been put on the “right foot” and so we look down and see and unknowingly mark in our heart that piece of our child’s life? I wonder.

What I do know as I sit looking at those shoes is that my little girl is growing up so fast. It seems just yesterday that she was running in those shoes playing for hours with her own imagination and her brothers. She still plays but now she is reading and writing. She is growing. I rejoice in that! But I also realize that the pendulum of time is constantly moving and I am not sure that I have done enough. I am so grateful for the Lord’s Atonement which can make up for this and realize that I had better get back on the ball.