A Mile In His Shoes

We were all sitting around the fire when my nephew asked me why I had a ratty pair of old sneakers in the house. I pulled him towards me and started to tell him the story. “ One day I was walking, and I saw this man. He had on a ratty striped shirt, with holes, and a pair of ripped shorts. He looked like he could barely stand, and I could see his ribcage was starting to show, from the lack of food. As I walked towards him, I noticed that everyone was staying far away from him, and they all whispered when they walked by. I thought to myself that he needed someone, so I walked over to him. He was scared and started to back away, so I called to him, and told him I just wanted to hear his story. He turned around and cautiously came to me. We sat on the cold concrete ground, and I handed him my coat, because he was shaking. I looked at him and asked him how he got to where he was. He looked at me with tears in his eyes, and immediately I knew that he wasn’t here because of a choice.”

“What was his story?” He whined, becoming impatient. He was twiddling his small thumbs, and his brown hair was blowing into his face, even though he kept sliding it to the left of his face.

“Well, he said he had a little boy, he was your age ,8, and he had a wife. One day his son and wife were coming home from the store when a drunk driver ran a stop sign and killed them both instantly.” My nephew gasped and covered his mouth, but I continued on with the story. “Before he continued, I asked him his name, and he said it was Keith. Then I told him to continue his story. He said that he had no money to begin with, but found a way to pay for the funerals anyway. Two months after the funeral he started becoming very depressed.”

“What is depressed?” Tony asked with an inquisitive look on his face.

“Its when you are really sad, and nothing really helps. To add to his problems he lost his job, and soon after his house. He looked at me, and asked ‘why am I still here? The two people I love the most are gone, yet God seems to want me to stay.’ I looked back at him and saw his empty looking eyes, and my heart broke. I didn’t have to think about the answer,and i told him, ‘because he always has a plan’. I told him to give me his shoes, and he just stared back. I took mine off, and handed them to him. Slowly he removed his, and handed them to me. I told him I would come back, and help him find a job. One year later we were able to locate a job for him.”

“Really, do you still talk to him?”

“Yes I do. He has a new family now, a little girl, and a little boy.”

“But why do you still have the shoes, it sounds like this happened a long time ago.”

“Tony, it was 5 years ago, and they have a meaning.”

“What do they mean?”

“They show that it isn’t right to judge people. You see when I first saw this man he was on the streets, and people just passed him by because they thought he was a drug addict. I was the one person that stepped up, and helped change his life. Those shoes show that you need to know a person. Have you ever heard of the quote “Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes.”

“Yes, I have.”

“Well I walked in his shoes. I realized that he needed help, and that I came just in time. His shoes show his trouble, but if we ignore pain, then we are no better than all of those people who walked by him that day I met him.

“TONY!!! It’s time to go now. Tell Uncle Chris goodbye.” Julie called to her son.

“OK mom just a minute, we aren’t done with the story.”

“When I look at those shoes it reminds me of the bad things that have happened in my life and that sometimes you just need help to get back up. Just remember that you are never the best off, but you are never the worst off. Theres always people who have bigger problems, even though you think your life is really tough.”

“Uncle Chris?”

“Yeah Tony, what is it?”

“What happened to Keith?”

“I told you, he has a family and started over.”

“But what is his job. His name sounds really familiar.”

“Tony, he is now a billionaire and gives a lot of money to charities and homeless shelters all over the world.”

Two weeks later Tony brought a paper to me. It was an essay he had written at school. The topic was his hero. Tony wrote about me and Keith. When I finished reading it I looked up, smiled at him, and gave him a rib crushing hug.

“This is AMAZING buddy.”

“Thanks Uncle Chris, I brought a few copies. You know so you can have one and you can give one to Keith, because I think he should know how big of an inspiration he is to me.”

The next day I gave a copy of the essay to Keith, and he smiled as he finished it.

“Thats a nice boy, if he needs anything you tell me.”

When Tony graduated from college his debts were all payed off by Keith, even though I told him we had it covered. Keith and Tony had built an amazing relationship, almost like Tony was Keith’s son. I guess that Tony reminded Keith of his boy, and he wanted the best for him, so I let him do as he pleased. Later on in life Tony told me that he was gonna travel to third world countries, and give away shoes. He told me that it was because of the shoes I had. I told him this was a good idea. Tony has done great things, and I know he will continue to be his best, and I know that my interaction with Keith was the beginning of a domino effect in my life.