Since the beginning of the human race, about 6 million years ago; when humans started finding a way to tie elephant hide to their feet to protect them, woman have had a very special relationship with shoes. I am certainly no exception to that rule, and I was getting self conscious about how many pairs of shoes were actually in my closet. I didn’t even like the Royster to go into my closet. He might start counting.
Cleaning out the closet became paramount to doing something about this … or to make me feel better … less guilty. Of what, I don’t really know. I am retired, and there just aren’t many places I can wear all those shoes. I just don’t want to give them up. Clothes from my working days are still in there. I might be able to wear them some day … somewhere. Who am I kidding? My daily wear consists of jeans and T-shirts with tennis shoes or Crocs. In the summer, its Capri’s and flip-flops. I haven’t worn anything nicer than Dockers and a nice blouse in about 5 years. Maybe I’ll give all of my good work clothes to a women’s charity….except maybe the shoes. Dang!
Since I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions, I won’t resolve to clean up and give away stuff in my closet. Actually, I’ve already started doing things I’ve procrastinated doing for a lifetime. I joined a gym, and have started going four days a week, Monday through Thursday to work out for a couple of hours. This is something I’ve really wanted to do. The more I go to the gym, the more I want to go. It’s sort of addictive, like … uhhhh … shoes. And the gym puts me out and away from the beckoning closet.
There are other things I’ve started bending my daily life around. First things first! Perhaps once a week, I will take six items and put them in a bag by the front door for the next charity that calls. They all call around the same time. I know what their M.O. is. They have snoops to find out when their competition will be picking up, and then they arrange to call and pick up a day earlier. My theory on this is First-Come-First-Serve. My problem with stock-piling items to give away is that if they are there in the bag for too long, I’ll go back and go through them, take things out and put them back in the closet. I just know I’ll be able to wear them again …… particularly the shoes. All women divide their closets in to Big Clothes and Small Clothes. The multi-size jeans system has always worked for me. I’ve always keep the current size up front and the sizes too big or too small way back in the back. Actually, the too small jeans have been in the back of the closet for two years. Maybe I’ll just keep three pair as a goal to work for, and give away the other eight pair. I know I can get in them some day.
A couple of months ago, I started making some headway in the direction of cleaning my closet. As I approached my closet door I began to feel a bit uneasy. When I opened the door, the pit of my stomach lurched. I couldn’t actually walk into the walk-in closet. Over the course of two years, I’ve been reaching over because I could not walk into the closet. Sometimes I’d just shuffle into the closet about a foot through the pile of shoes on the floor. Looking up, I saw shoes in boxes on the shelf the length and width of the closet, and three deep. I suppose that is the reason there is such a pile on the floor. There was just no room on the shelf …… OR maybe I was just too lazy to start a fourth row of shoes.
I bravely forged into the massive pile on the floor, picking through shoes, coat hangers and empty shoe boxes. I managed to part with my penny loafers, saving the 1948 penny and the current penny out of the slots on the top of each shoe. Those pennies are to be glued to my urn upon my passing. Maybe I shouldn’t say that I’ve given my beloved penny loafers away because the loafers are still in the bag by the front door, waiting … waiting. I’d sure love to find another pair of penny loafers … uhh … just for old time sake, and maybe a pair of really good saddle oxfords to wear with jeans. Okay. I’m supposed to be planning on giving away things (shoes) I no longer need / wear, not my next shoe shopping excursion.
I finally had sorted through the mess on the floor, and neatly lined up pairs of shoes that I would keep for the time being. It pleases me that I can actually walk into the closet. There are several pairs of shoes in bags by the front door, awaiting the next charity pick up. Next, I will get to the clothes that are jammed so close together that they require ironing before they can be worn. That will be next.
One of my girl friends friends, Karin, had damage from IKE. A tree had fallen on the part of their house that was their closet. Now, I have always been pea-green with envy of her closet any way. It’s the size of my kitchen, for pity sake! And, it has a bank of dresser drawers in the middle. Here’s the deal with that. They had the closet restored and lined with cedar. The carpenters made special slots for all of her purses and had more shoe shelves made. I really liked the special purse accommodations. She confessed that she actually had three huge storage boxes full of shoes that still would not fit in the closet without spilling out on the floor.
Here’s the deal. I have recently visited dear friends who have actually offered to show me their closets! Imagine that. I have never invited anyone to see my closet. One of these lovely women is a friend that I’ve known for thirty years or so, and had never been to her house before. I will protect her identity, and just call her Mary T. She lives pretty far away from me, so it wasn’t like I’d just popped over to see if she wanted to go shopping. We were going to lunch. I went to the door, and was greeted with, “I’m so glad you made it! Come on in and have some coffee.”
Really pleased to see my friend, I said, "I’d love some coffee! Your house is beautiful!"
As she led me in the house, she chirped, “ Let me show you the house while the coffee makes.
The whole house was really roomy, with an upstairs den in between the bedrooms and baths. It was just beautiful! Mary was really enthusiastic about showing me the house. It was almost like she couldn’t wait to show me her closet. Downstairs was the den, kitchen, dining room, and the master bedroom. Finally we came to the master bedroom. She said:
“Want to see my closet?”
Trying not to appear eager, I said, “Well … ummm, sure!”
No on had ever really invited me to see their closet before. I was wondering if I was going to see something spectacular. She threw open the door, and I was immediately awe-stricken. It was my closet times three … no … four or five. If I squinted, I could see that the closet was roomy enough, but the pile of shoes in the floor was only the beginning. There were rows of shoes, shoes and shoes. I saw that she shared the closet with her husband. Mary occupied three fourths of the closet from top to bottom. He only got the right side, his shoes neatly lined up on the floor.
“I’ve got three more closets just like this one.” she beamed.
I had to ask, “Mary, how many pairs of shoes do you think you might have? Just give me a round figure.”
After a moments’ calculation, she finally said, “I’d guess about 200 pairs, not including the ones I’m putting in the garage sale.”
She must have seen that I was a bit envious, because she said, “I’m going to have a garage sale. Here, I’ll show you what I’ve corralled”.
We went down stairs and threw open the door to a sitting room. I gasped, and then started wishing we were the same size. The room had organized stacks and stacks of beautiful clothes. She doesn’t have any place to wear her work wardrobe, either.
This show of honesty and openness just endeared her to me more. She showed me her vulnerability, and it’s made me braver about my own collection of shoes and clothes … things that, in the past, I just haven’t been able to part with. It will be much easier now, for me to go home and clean out my closet, work wardrobe, shoes and all.
You know, I really was impressed with the special slots for purses that my friend, Karin had built into her closet. Hmmmmmmmm. Perhaps I’ll go shopping for purses soon. Maybe the Royster will make some special purse accommodations in my closet for me. After all, I’m too old to be carrying around a fanny pack for a purse. Anyone want to go shopping?
