#aesthetic

Years later, I found out that he'd spent his entire childhood on the Canadian prairies with cold feet. My grandmother just bought whatever boots looked like the best value, regardless of whether they'd keep anyone warm. They'd kept him from frostbite, probably, but never, ever comfortable.

The reason my grandmother never had a thought about this was because she was buying her kids real boots. There was a sort of magical quality about real, purpose-made boots that meant that of course they'd work, because when she was growing up on the Canadian prairies, they had the kind of no money that meant you just stuffed some newspaper into your shoes and soldiered on.

The last pair of winter boots my dad bought for me was 15 years ago, in preparation for a three-month stint living in northern Quebec in midwinter. They cost $200 then, or something like it. I've worn them every year since, driving out to the remotest locations on the Canadian prairies and never once thinking about my feet.

But I want to say, for his sake but also for all of yours, that my dad told me he loved me every single day of my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. The phrase, repeated ad nauseam by both my parents, was that they loved me "always and forever, no matter what". My dad probably said that phrase, with its sentimental gooeyness, more than my mom. Even when we were mad, even when I was a teenager and absolutely everything was wildly embarrassing. He still says it, when we're having a Moment, eyes twinkly and kind of proto-teary. If we're not having a moment, if it's just a regular day, my dad just tells me he loves me every time he sees me.

Kaga-Yuzen Kimono

*(that I have posted about on this blog & in no particular order)