dieulast on Nostr: When I was in my early teens, my dad and I went on a lengthy trip, and as we passed ...

When I was in my early teens, my dad and I went on a lengthy trip, and as we passed through one of the smaller towns he decided to stop by to visit a friend, a retired army veteran. The friend was highly motivated in producing and selling his handcrafts, as it was a sole source of income that wasn't disability allowance, to cover up for the expenses for his sickly child. There were two things that he was making, and he was genuinely good at making them. Crosses and leather boots. And after a drink or two and a long, friendly chat, my father, even if our family was then strapped for cash, bought me both after slightly overpaying for them, as his friend's pride was too strong to straight-up receive a monetary gift, and well, these goods were genuinely high quality, it's not like its a waste.

11 long years later, the soles of the boots have finally started to break down to such an extent that no amount of glue can fix, so I decided to look out for a cobbler because I was proud of them, they were too good to be just tossed away, and I had found a old lovely grump of a cobbler who still endured in his trade and resolved my issues within a matter of minutes.

It's funny to me, when I first got them they were comically oversized for me, and when I pointed that out to my dad he said that I'll grow into them, and now that I finally paid attention, that's exactly what I did.