Shoes, Happy and Sad

This week's Gallery is 'Shoes'

I like shoes.   Buying them makes me happy.  Wearing nice ones makes me feel good.  Which is ironic because I rarely wear my nice ones, I live and die in comfy faceless trainers or slip-ons.

But a mountain of shoes conjures up a different image too.  Not one of mine, but one to remind us never to forget.

A while back I shared Benjamin Zander with you .  This is a story of his:

"It really makes a difference what we say,… the words that come out of our mouth. I learned this from a woman that survived Auschwitz, one of the rare survivors, she went to Auschwitz when she was just fifteen years old. And her brother was eight. And the parents were lost. And she told me this, she said

"We were in the train going to Auschwitz and I looked down and saw my brother’s shoes were missing. And I said why are you so stupid, why can’t you keep your things together for goodness sake." The way an elder sister would speak to a younger brother.

Unfortunately it was the last thing she ever said to him because she never saw him again. He did not survive. And so when she came out of Auschwitz she made a vow. She told me this, she said

"I walked out of Auschwitz into life and I made a vow and the vow was:

 I will never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing I ever say."

I so wish I could remember that every time HWMBO and I part, no matter how many wet towels I have gathered up!