Necessity IS the Mother of Invention

Ann didn’t have any boots when she was little . . . so I made her a pair. I took scraps of cloth and plastic bags and just wrapped her shoes up. Mom kept insisting, “She cain’t go out in des vetter Landa vid no boots.” And I kept pointin’ at her feet sayin’, “Mom those are boots . . . good boots.” Ann was convinced. She clomped out the back door and down the steps into a Winter Wonderland. We played outside all day. She didn’t even notice when kids laughed at her. She was havin’ too much fun and her feet were warm and dry. She was 4 years old and didn’t have a care in the world. By the time she was 6 she wasn’t interested in rags on her feet anymore. She understood the ridicule. She begged dad for some boots. Finally he said he’d think about gettin’ her a pair. But before he did he teased her alot and made her cry. He’d come in drunk and say, “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with them ‘boots’ Linda’s makin’ you . . . I don’t need to waste my money on store bought.”