One day after several years of marriage Heather asked me, “Why do you tie your shoes backwards?”
To that point in my life, I hadn’t realized I tied my shoes backwards. I couldn’t tie my shoes until well into my first grade year. I don’t know why, I just had a hard time learning it.
Learning to read was easy–very easy. Math was also easy. But tying a simple knot? Impossible.
It was finally the school janitor, Kenny, who taught me how to tie my shoes. I don’t think there was a student at Hillcrest Elementary that did not at least like–if not admire–Kenny. He had keys to everything, and he dispensed that mysterious sand when someone puked.
Anyway, one day Kenny got tired of watching me tread on my shoe laces and made me sit down on the steps leading down to the cafeteria. Then he slowly showed me how to tie my shoes. And I got it, just the way he showed me. Just the way he showed me.
I went back to Hillcrest to look up some of my old teachers after I graduated. Side note: I found my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ryan, who remembered me. When I told her I was going to college to major in art, she said, “I don’t remember you having any artistic talent.”
Anyway, when I went back, Kenny was still there. And he was still the janitor.
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