When I first started publishing on this blog almost two years ago, I wrote the story of how I came to name my blog “Nice Shoes and more life observations”. Well…I only told you half of the story. It is now time that I reveal the other half.
Yes, my grandmother often commented that you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes that they wear. But then 
along comes her son…my father. For those of you who know him, you know that his sense of humor and fun loving nature are legendary. There is always a smile on his face and a wisecrack ready on his lips. He teases..he pokes fun…he jokes…he’s funny. (I like to think that I inherited a small part of that too.)
There has been a long standing joke in our family about my Dad and his appreciation for “nice shoes”. This joke was another reason that my blog got its name. I never put this story in writing as I didn’t feel that the written word would translate well enough. I got the luxury of spending some time with my folks over the weekend as we joined my daughter in celebrating her college graduation. It was over our birthday dinner celebration for my Mom (Happy Birthday Mom!) when he told the story of how this all started. I now feel that I can share this story with you.
It was the late 60’s or perhaps the early 70’s. My sister and I were pre-teens, and were hanging out with my folks one evening as they were watching the Rockette’s kick up their heels on television. My Dad does have an appreciation for a beautiful woman (good thing he married my Mom…a true beauty!), so he felt the need to comment on the line of beauties that were smiling out at us through our TV set. Knowing that his young daughters were within earshot and thinking that he had to be discrete, he said to my Mom, “Hey Joanne. Look at those nice shoes!”
Well, as the story goes… my sister is one sharp cookie. She caught on immediately to what my dad was actually saying. She wasn’t quite as young and naive as he thought and, if truth be told, she inherited that sense of humor early on. Much to my Dad’s surprise, she called him on his comment. But…she didn’t let it go there. She began teasing him whenever we were in public. “Hey Dad, check out those nice shoes.” If you can’t beat em, join em. The whole family was soon in the loop to this little joke.
Here we are…40 odd years later. As we are sitting at the sidewalk cafe enjoying a wonderful dinner, he looks up and watching a lovely lady walk by he says, “Hey Joanne. Look at those nice shoes!””
