The God of My Shoes

"The God of My Shoes," was alive inside me since I was a child and the episode including the sounds, the contrast in families, and the deep shame that I was responsible. It was the late 1950's when as a small person, I was left to drift along the avenues and streets to find myself. I was in need of shoes for Christmas. The need was not to be met. The episode echoed inside me for years until I finally allowed it to live outside of my sadness. After writing it, I entered it into The Apache County literary contest and it was awarded first place. After that, the local newspaper published it in their commentary page. The catharsis of sharing a demeaning and lost story that stayed with me my whole life was liberating. The collection of stories in, "The God of My Shoes and other short stories and essays," is a compilation of different phases of writing during my career.