Edinburgh Pumps

I pulled out a pair of shoes from the depths of my closet today.  My "regular" black kitten heels have started an annoying squeak that makes me feel about 600 pounds.  This morning, with desperation born of running late, I pulled another pair of black shoes from their dusty, neatly labeled box at the back of the closet:

"Edinburgh Pumps"

After putting them on and thanking God that they still fit, I headed out the door.  On the drive to work I started thinking...

I bought these shoes while in Edinburgh on our honeymoon.  I remember the shop, located in the St. James shopping plaza.  They cost £70, making them the most expensive shoes I've bought.  Why yes.  I'm a Payless shopper.  (Hence the squeaky shoes.)

Side note:  That sound you hear is the fashionistas of the world dead bolting the fashion doorway against me.

With the center closing in less than a half hour, the shop was nearly empty.  I was desperate for new shoes.  All the shoes I'd brought on our honeymoon were more suited to a) warm California weather and b) not walking.  Chad and I had already spent a week walking over hills, through pastures and across cobblestone streets.  My one pair of Keds were the worse for wear and my strappy sandals were impossible.  I needed a pair of sensible, comfortable shoes to walk me to dinners out.  They needed to match my capris and my jeans and my "Miss Marple" skirts.

Because visiting England had necessitated a new wardrobe of cute pencil skirts and twin sets.

I found a perfect little one inch sling back.  The leather was butter soft and the support...amazing.  I wore them out of the store and down the street to our B&B.

I wore them at the next castle tour. I wore them with my gray skirt while having tea in the Lake District.  I wore them on our last night in London while we perused Harrod's and ate fish and chips in a little pub.

After coming home, I wore them quite often to work.  They were comfortable and cute and took me right back to our honeymoon.  And then...

The last time I wore them, I was pregnant with Joseph.  I remember cramming my swollen feet in them and then, on my lunch break, going to the store and picking up a pair of flip flops to finish off the day.  I put my Edinburgh pumps in their box and put them on a back shelf.  Over the years, they've languished, waiting for that moment when...

In a rush not to be late for work, I pulled them out, slipped them on and took another walk...

Down Memory Lane.