The Shoe Tree

The Shoe Tree in the town of Port Bolster

It is said that a shoe tree starts with one dreamer, tossing his or her footwear into the sky, to catch on an out-of-reach branch.It is there that the shoe's journey ends. But the amazing thing about the shoe tree is that the first pair of shoes triggers a shoe tossing frenzy .
Soon, everyone from teenagers to young children and families are gathering up their shoes and driving over to have a toss of their old walking memories. The thing that I find most fascinating about this tree is, on closer look you will find that most of these old shoes have messages on the sneakers or shoes with permanent marker. Messages of love, loss and inspiration are often inscribed on these old walkers.

This weekend my sister and mother drove out to this little town and the mission became clear. My mom unwrapped the black leather shoes that had once belonged to my dad and my sister tied a little note wrapped in a plastic baggy and then tossed his favourite shoes up into that old tree with the thousands of others. My father was a wonderful man and we all miss him very much, he doesn't need those shoes any more. The thought of his favourite shoes strung up on that tree brought tears to my eyes and a smile on my lips. We wouldnt have it any other way, the Salvation Army would have just given them away and someone else would have been walking a mile in his shoes. Thats what made me smile, my sister and my mother knew..... no one could ever walk a day in his shoes...and so there they remain, a legend along side of the others, their tattered state a testimony of his life.

In that picture somewhere in the middle are an old pair of black leather shoes not alone but amid some of the best old walkers in this state. "You know what, old tree, you just got another set of old clonkers but the man who wore them was nothing but a gem.