Tribute to my sandals

While I was in college, I had very little extra money for anything.  At one point, I was working maybe 2 or 3 part time jobs, piecemealing about $500 a month to live on--$200 of which was my portion of rent (thank God for student loans, full time summer jobs and my parents or tuition would have never gotten paid).  A very good friend gave me first dibs on dress clothes that she was replacing, I had a paid-for, reliable pickup truck, and some dishes that a roommate left behind when she moved out for whoever wanted them (which I still have.  It was a nice set!)

What I splurged on was shoes.  I bought my first set of really nice running shoes with some gig money I earned singing at a church.  First hiking boots came from an Easter trumpet gig.  The year I did my student teaching, I met Tyson, who had student taught with the same guy the year before me.  After we had been dating a few months, I graduated and he bought me my first pair of Tevas as a graduation present (then, as now, he has a talent for knowing what the perfect gift is for me on special occasions).  I had really wanted a pair of those sandals, but being as short on money as I was, I couldn't justify spending $40 or $50 on SANDALS.  The money I received as graduation presents from relatives bought me a two day trip to San Jose/San Francisco (and yes I realize I could have bought my own Tevas with that money, too, but my boyfriend had already done it for me!!).  So my adventures with these shoes started with a trip to California.  My first solo traveling experience.

Now I should say that I'm writing this because today, TEN YEARS LATER, I have finally replaced these sandals.  And they're not falling apart.  I'm replacing them because the velcro is finally coming unstitched a little bit, and the rubber is worn down at the toes so they're not as comfortable as they used to be.

But.

I'm having trouble throwing them out because we've been through so much together.  I know it's stupid to get sentimental about a pair of shoes.  These sandals have been with me:
1) To San Francisco, twice.
2) To England and Spain, twice.
3) to Scotland once---and were the shoes I wore the first time I drove in the UK (eek!)

4) Getting in and out of the moving truck back and forth across 4000 miles of driving.

5) Every summer we were in Chicago.  Outdoor concerts, running to catch a train, Cubs games, hiking to class across the NU campus, exploring forest preserves, Indiana Dunes and Starved Rock state parks and countless trips to the shore of Lake Michigan.
6) A night out in Reno because all my other shoes were packed in the moving truck.
7) On my last two plane trips---Las Vegas and Phoenix---because they're easy to take off like flip-flops but are sturdy enough to run from gate to gate if the TSA makes you late for boarding.
8) Every backpacking trip, up a ridge between Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Ranier, crossing rivers and rock scrambling.
9) Two trips to Shasta Lake and Bend.

I guess I'm not really sentimental about the sandals themselves but all the adventures they represent.

But seriously, TEN YEARS? What pair of shoes lasts that long with that much abuse? So even though the replacement pair was exactly twice as much as what Tyson paid for the first pair, I figure if these new ones bring me half the adventure the first pair did, they'll be worth every penny.