Mama’s Red Shoes
When I saw the red shoes on the shelf my heart skipped a beat because they brought to mind our precious mother’s red shoes. Mama was born in 1909 when ladies fashions included pointy-toed, high-button shoes, skirts that swept the floor and petticoats, pantaloons and corsets were concealed underneath it all. Women’s hair was worn long, “done up” high or drawn back into a bun. However, by the year 1920, women’s fashions drastically changed. Dresses became short, hair styles were “bobbed”, high-buttoned and pointy-toed shoes were “out” and dancing the Charleston was “in”.
Our mom became part of the revolutionary fashion changes of the times. She was privileged to attend a school for young ladies. Her courses of study included music, voice training and dancing: tap, ballet and acrobatic dance. Mama scored well in all of her studies but singing and dancing were her joy!
And so it was that many years later we three little girls would watch our mother dance on the kitchen floor, clicking her heels, tap dancing to the Lord, sometimes to music we heard on the radio and other times mama danced to a music that only she could hear in her heart. We watched in wonder as our mother swayed and laughed breathlessly. When she prayed softly her feet responded to her heavenly music. We did not understand it, but we knew she was honoring the Lord with heavenly words of praise, so we just watched open-mouthed, speechless and amazed.
Our mom was energetic and upbeat, a woman who enjoyed life. She took delight in everything, from weeding the garden to mopping the floor. Mama was having fun, be it chasing a dust ball from under the bed or making a window shine. She had unbelievable stamina and would not rest if her house was out of order. (I never inherited any of that from her. A little dust here and there has never bothered me.) Mama was the original “Energizer Bunny”. She kept going, going, going. Maybe that was her undoing…
At about age 43 Mama developed headaches. Our Doctor prescribed blood pressure medicine that worked too well, sapping Mama’s energy. She became wiped out, exhausted all of the time, so she put the cap on that bottle and put it way to the back of the shelf and stopped taking that dratted medicine. In a few days Mama was back to her normal energetic self, not realizing the danger that lay ahead. Sad to say, our mom had a stroke that nearly took her life and left her wheelchair bound.
Shortly before her sudden illness Mama had purchased a snazzy pair of red shoes. They had a 2 ½ inch heel, “Baby doll” toes and red patent leather that was so shinny that they looked like glass, making you think of Dorothy’s shoes in the “Wizard of Oz.” Sadly, our Mother never got to wear her beautiful red shoes.
After a two month stay in the hospital, Mama began to adjust to her new life at home in a wheelchair. She attempted to be upbeat and refused to be a gripper or a complainer. She had use of her right hand so she wrote letters to friends and family, always including a scripture or word of encouragement. Since it was no longer easy to attend church she found comfort in Christian programing on television. She loved her Sunday church on TV and the Thursday services as well.
The day came when Mom asked us to clear out some things she no longer needed, but she kept her red shoes to wear “when she gets well.” Then she laughed and said that if the Lord doesn’t heal her on Earth that is OK, too, because she will wear her red shoes when she dances before the Him in heaven. We were amazed at our Mom’s positive attitude.
Another day came when our Mother cleared out all of her treasures, dividing her jewelry between us. She privately gave me her red shoes. I was filled with fear but she assured me that she would enjoy seeing me wearing them. I was the only one of her daughters that could wear her size eight red shoes. My two sisters both had little “Cinderella feet”…, but the red shoes were a perfect fit for me.
“Please take them and do not cry. I will walk and dance again,” Mama said. “The Lord has told me that I will not wear shoes in heaven. I will dance barefooted before the Lord’s throne!”
Wow! Tears flooded down as I traveled back home that evening. And I was not surprised a few weeks later when the call came that Mama had died peacefully at home in her own bed. Knowing that Mama had received a word directly from the Lord took some sting out of her death. And I am still comforted, knowing that Mama is having a ball dancing barefooted before the Throne in Glory Land right now. I am looking forward to ditching my shoes someday soon as well, on that glad day when I join her in a Victory Dance.