Brand New Shoes

Well Ladies,

I have the most amazing announcement in the world!! For those of you who don't already know, I graduated with my MFA in Creative Writing in August. Yep. Two and a half years of hard work paid off and I earned a degree I initially never dreamed existed. Who gave degrees in something you loved? Reading? Wow. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Not for a second. Reading isn't easy. Reading like a writer is far less easy. Literary reading is even less easy. Along the way I lost some things. A little innocence, a little naivete, a stratosphere of pain...and so many tears. I gained a new perspective on life. During this journey one of the things I loved the most were the rolling hills of Wroxton, England and the Fairleigh Dickinson Campus. On that campus I stumbled and fell, got up and walked again, and loved every second of it.
Georgia was no better. Offering challenges that threatened to fell me for good, but God has a way of moving every obstacle, and when He says enough, that is it.

I wanted to wear heels to graduation, so I needed to consult an expert. I went to New Jersey to the home of my dear friends Lori-Bryant Woolridge, her husband Craig, and their daughter shoe maven, Eva. Early on L's husband excused my frightfulness with one word "niiice," and beat a hasty retreat to rarely be seen again.

Ever-patient Lori, and sixteen year old Eva, taught me hip-tucking techniques to walking in heels, balance and poise. By the end of the evening my toes were in the permanent flexed position, but I was ready to see Nina Foxx, the shoe--aficionado and fellow student friend, and to graduate.

I wore those four-inch heels to graduation and throughout the night, and I was thrilled. I made a graduation speech and I didn't cry. Not that day. I feel my mom smiling when I think about what a great accomplishment this is for me and for our family. I have one graduation picture to share. I'm the rather slim-footed girl in the black shoe, then there's Nina and Lori!

Now it's time for me to take that next step. I've got to find some new shoes. . .