Shoes

[Nonametoday]

About 3 years ago, my son who is now deceased, had used one of our guest hat/coat closets to build me a shoe closet for my mother's day gift.  It was perfect. It would hold more than 100 pairs of shoes.  I didn't have that many, but he had built his wife a similar one, who had more shoes than I.

I put all my shoes in, had room for more. I had worn some shoes (sneakers) that had gotten a funky smell.  I felt like it was an athlete's foot component in my closet so I bought a desiccant to put in it to absorb the odor.  I sat it on the shelf, opened it and intended to put it in a large bowl but my husband called. I got busy and forgot it.

Four days later, another son came to see the closet.  He asked "what is all this stuff dripping down on your shoes and what is going on?  It's shrinking your shoes."

I had left the desiccant open, forgotten it as I was wearing a pair of sandals.  Somehow, I must have opened it, placed shoes in there, jarred the door and the desiccant turned over as I had forgotten about it.

All shoes but 2 pairs were ruined.  Some looked like Barbie doll shoes as they were shrunken.  It did no good to cry. But I could not afford to replace all those shoes, nor could I afford to buy more than a couple pairs of shoes. That is the sad story of how I lost most of my shoes in one fell swoop.

[Kachina624]

@Nonametoday.  If my shoe collection somehow got destroyed, I, too, would be so sad.  I guess it's futile to cry over spilled desiccant, however.  I'm so sorry this happened to you.

[Jrzgirl]

I'm SO sorry- that is a very tragic story!

[SaveTheTurtles]

@Nonametoday  This is a very sad story indeed. I hope you've been able to build your shoe inventory back up.

[PamfromCT]

I am really sorry.  I can understand how heartbreaking that would be. Good shoes are so expensive.  Maybe you can replace them one at a time.  Macys has wonderful sales and ship free when you go over a certain amount.  Other places, too. Your son sounds like a real peach of a guy, and I am sorry you lost him.

[elated]

That is really heartbreaking on so many levels. I would be devastated. Wishing you well going forward. Replacing shoes in this economy would be very costly. 

[rms1954]

A sad day in shoe history.  Start over.

[Nonametoday]

Unfortunately, I will not be able to rebuild that collection as I had before.  So many nice brands that I can no longer afford with the additional expenses we have that aging has brought.  But, I have about 5 great pairs, 5 good pairs, so I have enough to get me through and do the things necessary and the places I go now.  I don't attend as many social events as I once did, so I suppose I don't really need them, but it was a loss indeed.

[CalminHeart]

I had a very large shoe collection before I retired. I didn't need all of them after I retired but didn't want to give them up. It didn't take long to realize I was not wearing or needing most of them. I finally boxed up a lot of my shoes and donated them to a women's shelter.

I haven't needed even one pair I donated. And I still have what a lot of people would call too many shoes.

[Judaline]

Barbie Doll shoes?? I'm sorry but that is so hilarious. Worst case scenario-you HAVE to buy all new shoes