They’re
satin royal blue Latin dance shoes, with a 2¼-inch
heel, the perfect and very safe height for my older and aging dance frame. I’m obsessed with them and ordered them for
my daughter’s wedding. I used to dance
and still like my “dancer’s feeling.” So
my daughter’s wedding called for my special dance self, and dance shoes to
carry me down the aisle as my husband and I lovingly escorted her to her loving
partner.
My daughter
had ordered her own special brand of magical shoes, as she too had been a
dancer. Her magical shoes were purple
velvet, her favourite colour and style to show off her beautiful dancer’s
tattoo. A tribute to her love of ballet,
her tattoo says, “My heart is at your feet” – it’s a reference to her curtsy at
the end of each class to acknowledge the instructor.
My husband
bought new shoes too, so he could embrace this special shoe conversation too.
My heart
leapt every time the mail arrived or a package was delivered. “is it the shoes?!” I’d ask. Nope, not today. Each day I’d run to the door … Nope not
today. I tracked my order and to my
dismay realized they’d been ordered from England! I saw the tracking order on my computer and
saw that they had in fact been shipped.
The tracking order showed an airplane as the mode of
transportation. Oh my gosh, would they
make it across the ocean to my doorstep to be on my feet for October 11th?
Well, dance
shoes had never let me down before in my dancing life, and surely they were
magical and knew I needed them for this special day in our family’s life!
My middle
daughter, the practical and organized one, secretly ordered me a backup pair of
shoes, just in case mine did not arrive.
The shoes she ordered for me were the perfect shade to match my navy
dress, with sparkly adornments. The heel
was stylish and low, and the sheen just poked out from under the long hem. They were really nice, I had to admit. And I really did appreciate her
thoughtfulness of looking out for me. I respectfully delegated these to the
role of understudy in case the royals didn’t arrive on time.
This
obsession with wedding shoes was honestly a lovely relief and distraction that
helped us to forget stress of the pandemic looming above and around and ahead
of us. Our family were in a beautiful
wedding bubble, preparing details like blue shoes and blue dresses, blue bow
ties and blue masks to match our elegant blue outfits.
We printed
schedules of the wedding day and for that day – unlike the rest of our pandemic
lives – knew exactly what we were looking forward to. It was a wonderful space to be in.
My shoes
arrived on the Thursday before the wedding, quietly in a non-descript envelope,
carefully folded together like dance partners. I tried them on: they beautiful
and comfortable and looked stunning on my feet
But Miss
Middle daughter asked me to put on one shoe from each pair, together, with my
dress – side by side, she said, to really get a good long look, like an
audition.
Well, the
understudy won the wedding job. They really did look better. But the royals go
with all of my work clothes, because now I work from home and can wear my
dancer’s feeling on my feet, all day long, any time I need to or want to!
***
Christina
Walton lives
in Hamilton, where she grew up and danced for
many years. She works as a family
therapist, and she and her husband Stephen, are the parents of three adult
children. They recently celebrated the wedding of their eldest daughter. This is Christina’s first short memoir
writing piece.
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