Wearing 'em down

I left my yellow slippers back in Boston.

I didn't want to - they'd grown nice and comfortable - but there was no room in the bags. Gifts and daaru bottles and clothes and books took precedence.

But I wish I had my old yellow slippers.

Because you know how it is with slippers, right? When you buy them, they're not very pliant. Tough and uncomfortable, they pinch your feet and don't bend when you walk.

Over time, as you wear them everyday, they grow a little softer. Your weight (and in my case, that is no understatement) wears down the hard edges and the slippers develop little grooves around the shape of your feet. The slipper becomes a little soft, a little old, and a little more comfortable.

Eventually, your slipper can be worn only by you. The grooves become pronounced, and they fit closely and snugly around your feet. They become your slippers. And you know that this will happen.

But as with all good things, that takes time. And in the case of slippers, you have to wait a good couple of months.

So as I said, I wish I had not left my old yellow slippers back in Boston. I had them for over a year and a half, and they'd become mine.

I have new ones now, and I have a couple of months to go.
Before my slippers become mine.