Monday, October 22, 2007

A Pair of Shoes

My children are friends with the little girl across the street from us. At one point she used to be here from dawn till dusk and no one ever came to check on her. Since we have become a lot busier, she is often only over in the afternoons and the girls play outside in the backyard. I noticed a few weeks ago that the little girl had a huge hole in the toe of her shoe. Her parents are never one to rush out and get the girl anything that fits properly or replace things that are worn. In the past I have given her clothes, a bike, sweaters, etc. Today when she came over she was still wearing the holey shoes so I asked her what size she wore. She told me that she wore a size 1 and I went searching through the house for the proper size. My girls usually wear out their shoes, but I did find a pair of size 4 tennis shoes that I had gotten at walmart as an extra pair of shoes (I think she probably wore them once or twice) when Em went to camp a few years ago. I had put them aside in the goodwill pile and dragged them out. I offered them to the little neighbor girl and her face lit up. I told her to try them on first and see if they fit. Her little feet swam in the big shoes, but she declared that they were "great because I still have room to grow!" I think she has about 3 inches to grow into them. She tightened them up and wore them the rest of the afternoon while the kids played. I wonder if she will wear them tomorrow to school.

I also wonder if she has a winter coat.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

How pathetic for those parents and how fortunate for her that you guys actually pay attention to her.

Old Cowboy Dan said...

It sounds just like something a teacher would do for her students. I don't know how many times your Aunt may have done something like that, she didn't want any publicity.

Anonymous said...

Would she fit in a Madeline coat?

Butterfly Wife said...

That brought a tear to my eye. I think I'll go buy a child's coat and donate it to a local charity.

Kasey said...

It was very very nice of you to do this for her. But it makes me feel sad that her parents don't seem to take care of her.

I am with Butterfly Wife. I think I will be donating some of my son's outgrown clothing to charity.

ABW said...

Great ideas. I only wish that people would be responsible for their children and want to provide for them like they are supposed to.

Of course I sent my daughter off to school with a sweatshirt and no coat because she outgrew another one! I better get online and get one ordered.

Anonymous said...

dw does have a good heart sometimes

Anonymous said...

hahaha

Anonymous said...

I'm proud of you! But in regards to comments above (which were also my instinct) has anyone considered that perhaps they can't afford them? Doesn't account for ignoring her and I don't know the situation, perhaps they are driving a new vehicle in which case, my comment is moot. Without knowing the whole situation, I am fighting the similar feelings of the above comments.

Anonymous said...

Your story touched my heart and made my day brighter knowing there are people like you willing to give still out there.

Bless you,

Anonymous said...

I also wondered if they could afford new shoes, but you don't even have to compare it to a new car.... are they eating out? Do they rent movies? I imagine that family could afford new shoes if they made their child(ren) a priority. And, if not, head to Goodwill.