{"id":498,"date":"2016-12-11T23:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T04:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2016-12-11T23:00:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T04:00:48","slug":"if-the-shoe-fits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=498","title":{"rendered":"IF THE SHOE FITS\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"img_0760\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Faye wearing her size 10 shoes that she got married in and yes they are killing her feet.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction,\u00a0 and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction.\u00a0 Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n

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I have big feet.\u00a0 I came by them honestly.\u00a0 My father wore a size 12 and was proud of it.\u00a0 \u201cI got a good foundation,\u201d he often said.\u00a0 With his six feet, three inch height, they were fine.\u00a0 Mama, however, was a foot shorter, and her size 10 feet didn\u2019t match quite as well.\u00a0 By the time I was thirteen, I was five feet, eight, and could wear my mother\u2019s shoes.\u00a0 That came in handy one particularly hard time in my family when she and I together had only one pair of shoes between us.\u00a0 Only one at a time could leave home that winter.\u00a0 Any day I was in school Mama had to make trips to the outdoor toilet or to the woodpile barefooted.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Actually, my feet grew even larger than size 10, but I didn\u2019t know it.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t aware that women\u2019s shoes came any larger.\u00a0 I thought any shoe I could force my foot into was my size\u2014and that was always a size 10.\u00a0 When it was shoe-buying time\u2014and that was when the sole was actually coming off the shoe, and I was no longer able to reattach it with hand-sewing\u2014I was accustomed to going into one of the cheaper stores in Dalton, Georgia and asking in an embarrassed\u00a0 near-whisper to see what everyday shoes they had in size 10.\u00a0\u00a0 Frequently, the clerk would yell to a manager, \u201cWe got any women\u2019s shoes in size 10?\u201d\u00a0 There was never a big selection, and some of those were too tight for me to tolerate.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whatever pair I bought had to go through a \u201cbreaking in\u201d period.\u00a0 This meant hurting toes, blistered heels, and general torture until my feet stretched the leather to accommodate my feet. By the time I started to college at a school requiring uniforms, I had corns on multiple toes, callouses on heels, and probably the beginning of bunions and hammer toes.\u00a0 When I arrived at Berry College in 1957, it was no surprise when they fitted me in size 10 white lace-up oxfords and size 10 pumps for dress-up.\u00a0 The shoes were quality leather, so I limped around campus for at least a year in those shoes before \u201cbreaking them in.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After Berry, I got rid of the uniforms, including shoes, but I replaced them with new size 10s.\u00a0 And this was when pointy toes and three inch heels were in style.\u00a0 I can hardly believe now that I managed to walk\u2014and teach\u2014wearing those miserable shoes.\u00a0 The shoes made my feet look smaller, however.\u00a0 On my wedding day I wore a pair of three-inch heels.\u00a0 Although my feet appeared daintier and my legs looked long and shapely, my toes were killing me.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Then came the time my new husband and I were getting dressed for some big occasion.\u00a0 He watched me force my foot into those same white shoes.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThose shoes are too little,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Embarrassed, as always, by any attention to my big feet, I replied,\u00a0 \u201cThey are not.\u00a0 It\u2019s the size I always wear\u2014size 10.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care what size they are,\u201d Benjamin said, \u201cthey\u2019re not big enough.\u00a0 You can barely get them on. \u201c<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My face was burning by this time, and I was defensive.\u00a0 \u201cWell, too bad,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cTen is the largest they make.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cYou want to put some money on that,\u201d he asked.\u00a0 \u201cI guarantee they make bigger shoes, and we\u2019re going to find them.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The search began.\u00a0 Benjamin was relentless.\u00a0 He took me to every shoe store in Auburn.\u00a0 While I cringed with humiliation, he would go marching into a store and ask them to measure my feet and bring me whatever they had.\u00a0 There were none.\u00a0 We went to Opelika.\u00a0 No luck there either.\u00a0 He had plans for combing Columbus, Georgia and maybe Atlanta, but Thanksgiving put a pause on the search while we went to Coffeeville, Alabama for the holiday. When we drove into town he spotted McNider\u2019s Store.\u00a0 \u201cMight as well see what McNider has in shoes,\u201d he said.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

To my utter amazement, McNider had several pairs in size 11!\u00a0 And I\u2019m talking nice shoes,\u00a0 brand names!\u00a0 What we bought was a pair of alligator mary jane tee-strap pumps with stacked heels.\u00a0 They looked wonderful and my feet felt as if they had died and gone to heaven.\u00a0 I immediately forgave Benjamin for all the embarrassment he had put me through.\u00a0 I wore those shoes every day until they were worn out.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From that day forward, I have only bought shoes that fit.\u00a0 And now when I go into a shoe department, I simply say in a normal, unembarrassed voice, \u201cDo you have this shoe in size 11?\u201d<\/strong>
\nVery often, they do.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thank you, Benjamin Gibbons, for one more way you\u2019ve added to the great happiness of my life!<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n