Those Shoes Were The Freaking COOLEST

When I was a kid, I HATED shoes — hated buying them, hated wearing them. It was to the point that my shoes would fall off my feet before I’d agree that maybe I should think about getting another pair. When I was about seven or eight, I saw a commercial for the shoes that lit up when you moved and I wanted a pair more than anything. We didn’t have a lot of money when I was a kid, but my mom was just grateful to not have to fight with me about it that she agreed to buy them on the spot.

We went to my grandmother’s house so I could show them off, and so Mom could donate some things to her sister’s garage sale that day. I went inside. The rule was, “No shoes on while in the house,” so I took them off and ran to find my grandmother.

Me: “Nana! Come look at my cool new shoes! They light up when you walk in them, and I love them!”

Grandma: “You got new shoes? That’s great!”

It took her a couple of minutes to finish whatever she’d been doing, and we went into the garage so I could show them off, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. We looked all over for them as I was getting more and more frantic. My mom came to help, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Mom: “Hey, [Aunt], have you seen a pair of kids’ light-up shoes anywhere? [My Name] took them off in the garage and we’ve misplaced them.”

Aunt: “No, I found them. I got $10 for them.”

My aunt had seen my shoes that we had just bought an hour ago and, without checking to make sure they were part of the donations, sold them to someone. They were the only pair of shoes I had that weren’t dressy shoes. I burst into tears. Money was super tight, and I was never just given something I wanted like that, so I figured I would never get to have those super cool shoes now.

Grandma: “You sold them?!”

Aunt: “Well, [My Name] needed new shoes, anyway, right? I figured they fell out of the box [Mom] brought over.”

Mom: “They were brand new! I still have the receipt for them! [Aunt], you know I can’t afford things like this!”

My aunt tried to huff and insist it was just an honest mistake, but my grandmother was having none of it. She forced my aunt to shut the garage sale down right then since she was allowing my aunt to use her home for it, as my aunt lived an hour outside of town. She then told my aunt she would either buy me an identical pair of shoes or she could live with never being invited back for anything.

I had a new pair of identical shoes an hour later, and I proceeded to wear them until I outgrew them about a year later.