Keens

One year ago today we said goodbye to one old friend (King), and today I'm saying goodbye to another: a pair of Keens - perhaps my favorite shoes of all time.

Yeah, the tips are funny looking, but they have to be the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. Having been worn from the U.S. to Japan (and many countries in between), the soles had been worn down to the point where they were almost smooth. It was time to donate them to charity.

Today, we had one of our quarterly clothing pick-ups for charity. So, with a couple of tears, and a head full of pleasant memories, I gently lowered my old friends into the Kleidersammlung bag, along with some other clothes, and brought them out to the curb yesterday afternoon.

I just looked outside toward the street, and the charity bags haven't been picked up. I guess I still have time to change my mind, run out there, and salvage the holy Keens. But I don't have to - all is not lost - because...

I had the foresight to buy a second pair! Actually, Mrs. TBF bought me the second pair.

I had bought the first pair a few years ago at Nordstrom during a trip to Chicago. Mrs. TBF ended up being in Chicago about a month after me, and while there, she called me and asked if there was anything I wanted her to pick up for me. "Yeah," I told her, "... buy me another pair of those Keens." That she did, and the back-up pair has been in the on deck circle in a closet at Mrs. TBF's mom's house for the last few years for me to use while in Chicago.

Now due to my advance planning, I'll be able to enjoy the comfort of my beloved Keens for a few more years to come. Ahhhh... life's simple pleasures.