the Lynch’s go barefoot.

Colleen Lynch’s story.

I started my day early on Thursday and it was a cold morning. As I walked down the stairs, the tile floor of our kitchen felt cold and it was then when I began to realize what a difference even socks make. I then walked from the front door to my car and the ice-cold cement driveway made the walk seem much further than the few yards it actually was. By the time I got into my car, my feet felt frozen. Getting into the car was not much better, since it was icy in there, too. However, the entire walk out to the car I was thinking “Thank God I only have to do this today!” I could not help but think about what it would be like to do this everyday and in MUCH WORSE conditions. Atleast I was able to drive to work and I did not have to walk.

Throughout the day I kept thinking, I am doing this by choice, those children do not have a choice. They do not have the luxury to say “Well tomorrow I will have my shoes back.” When I got to school, there had been two days of strong winds the two days before. As I was walking up to unlock the main gate, I noticed that the entire walk way was covered in SAND that had blown in from the track. I thought, “geez…just my luck to have no shoes on!” I walked over the thin layer of sand and it was not pleasent.

Later in the day, I wanted to go to Target and lunch with a friend, but I knew that since I did not have shoes, I could not do either of them. I was limited, but not like the children are each and every day. I went canoeing with my parents and walking from the car and down the boat launch was not pleasant either. The black top was really hot and the launch was concrete with sharp gravel. The walk down and back up kept me very thankful for my shoes. 

In the evening, I took a look at my feet and how dirty they were, but I knew that really, they were not that dirty in comparison to how the childrens’ feet must look like each day. Mom was gardening in the morning, with no shoes and she ended up stubbing her toe on a root. She wishes she had been wearing shoes, beacuse now it is a blood blister. OUCH! However, she is now even more thankful for her shoes.

Participating in A Day Without Shoes was very eye opening. Mom and I became aware of just how simple, yet important they are. We plan on passing on the word about TOMS to all of our friends and family.