Something To Be Thankful Pt. 1

It's been two years since I had a pair of rubber shoes. I bought it at Shoemart (with my mom's permission) after the department store slashed its price for the mall's year-end sale. The shoes didn't last long though. It had soles as thin as a cardboard and when I used it for long walks over rough and uneven terrain, the rubber gets shredded.

I seldom buy my own shoes because I couldn't afford one. My credit cards are used to purchase other things such as my gym membership and family dinners at fancy restaurants. Instead, I depend on the kindness of relatives abroad for their balikbayan boxes. That's how I acquired a fleet of leather shoes over the years.

Last weekend, an uncle arrived from the US for his regular visit to the country. Despite heavy rains, we showed up for lunch hosted by the favorite aunt. Pasalubongs were expected but since the downpour kept the goodie boxes from being unloaded from the truck, it took days before the pasalubong actually reached us.

I found two pairs of rubber shoes in the living room last night. One was of course for me and the other still waited to be claimed by its mysterious owner. Both pairs were size 12 and they were branded. If I'm not mistaken, they were Sketchers.

"O pumili ka na ng sapatos mo." Mom was there to make sure I wouldn't claim the two shoes for myself.

I chose the purple pair.

"Kasyang kasya sa akin, heto na lang kunin ko ma!" I said while dangling the shoes in front of her.

Mom didn't ask anything after. I went back to my room to finish the blog entry I previously posted.

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I felt a strange ease around my feet after deciding to wear the new pair of shoes the following day. It's been a while since I had rubber shoes for walking and though nobody noticed my new pair at work, I was grateful for having a new pair to use alongside my extra heavy boots. Lunchtime came and while waiting for someone to text back, I received a text message from my mom confirming my suspicions about the other pair we left behind.

"Kay Mugen rin yung isang sapatos. Padala yun ni Melvin sa kanya." It was a forwarded SMS from the favorite aunt. An older cousin - the son of the uncle who arrived from the states - was generous enough to send another pair for me.

"Ang lakas mo talaga sa kanila. Pasalamat ka kay Uncle Rick saka kay Kuya Melvin mo ha!" It was an instruction that needs no reminder. I already sent a wall-to-wall message on Facebook to Melvin shortly after the confirmation came.

Now that I have two pairs of rubber shoes, another two pairs of leather shoes, and a pair of boots given to me by a very generous colleague who was also responsible for stuffing my wardrobe with his hand-me-down pants, my goal now is to replace the extra-large long-sleeves with medium-sized ones.

Then I will become a fashionista.

Thankful for the shoes I recieved, my long sleeves will go to some plus-sized colleagues tomorrow.