During the winter month’s my mother always dressed me warmly with a thick heavy coat, gloves, knit cap and a pair of rubber boots for snow.
On a cold winter snowy afternoon, my mom recognized I was playing in the snow with one rubber boot on my right foot. I didn’t recognize the missing left boot until she yelled from the rear deck for me to look for the missing boot.
For a short time, I looked for the missing boot and did not find it. But, knowing I would get a scolding if I stayed outside with only a dark green sock on, I did what any young child would do. I went into the house found my tennis shoes and put my left tennis shoe on and returned to the backyard to play in the snow.
What happened next, is something I can remember to this day.
When my mother noticed me playing in the snow with a rubber boot on my right foot and a tennis shoe on the left, she yelled with authority for me to return to the house. Her statement was straightforward and understandable, “Get you little behind in here.” I received that scolding I was trying to avoid all because I had a snow filled wet tennis shoe & sock. I thought to myself. 🙂
Her final statement made me angry when she said, “your day of play was over.” I never considered how cold I was until I took my first sip hot tomato soup with crackers. As the hot soup warmed my insides, I began to shiver, and my mother brought me a blanket to wrap around me to keep warm.
Ever since that day, cold weather has never bothered me because I have worn shoes that keep my feet warm and dry to prevent me from shivering.