Cammy’s New Tennis Shoes

We all were invited to Jaden’s birthday party at Aunt Nancy’s house.  And when I say ‘we all’, I do mean ‘we all’.  We took Grandmother, Cameron, Emily, Blair, Mindy, and our selves.  We were the bulk of the party.  You might say we were the party on wheels.  We had to take two cars just to get us all there. 

The party was a big hit!  As usual, Aunt Nancy had the best food, and more of it than we could possible eat, not that we didn’t do our best to help her get rid of it.  The younger children squealed as they played on the big inflated toy in the front yard that Nancy bought for Jaden . The older children played football and rode on the golf cart.  The really old children, Crystal, Amber, Lauren, and the others their age, stood around taking pictures and chasing the children on riding toys.  Everyone had a great day. Then it was time to go home.

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As we loaded up in the car, I remembered that I had promised Cameron a pair of new tennis shoes for Christmas.  I thought this would be a good time to stop at JC Penny and let him help pick them out, and try them on to make sure they fit.  NOT!

As we pulled into the parking lot, I heard Cameron say, “Grandma, do you have a paper towel  or a wet one? “

”No Cameron, I don’t. Why?”

“Emily needs one.”

I don’t think too much about it until we got out of the car and I got a good look at Emily. She now had a face full of red candy, smeared all over her face and hands. First stop - Woman’s Room.

After cleaning up Emily’s face and getting everyone to use the bathroom, we were on our way to get Cameron’s shoes.  Mindy was with me and she stated that she needed shoes too.

“Lets look and see what they have on the 70% off rack guys,”  I insisted as we entered the shoe area.  There sitting right on top was a really cool pair of shoes. Vans, black with a silver design. They were really bad!  At least I thought so.

Mindy said she thought they were boy shoes, but that she would wear them. They were pretty cool. Cameron stuck his nose up and the air and said, “I don’t like those,  let me look over here.”  He headed for the young children’s shoes and found just what he wanted.  I tried to explain to him that they do not make that shoe in an adult size.  He just looked at me with a puzzled expression.

We spent the next 30 minutes in the men’s section trying to find him an inexpensive pair of shoes. I would find a pair I thought he would like at a decent price, and he would ‘poo poo’ them.  He would find a really cool pair for $80 and I would just walk the other way.  The expression on my face and the tight grip on my purse said it all.

Now my patience were wearing thin and I had Emily and Blair with me also.  Enough said.  This created a thin line between pure insanity and total stupidity.  I saw no positive to my situation.

Then it hit me!   What would Luci do?  (WWLD?)  The answer came to me in seconds.  I found the ugliest, cheapest shoes I could find and told Cameron, “Here Cameron, try these on. These are the shoes I’m going to buy you.”

He took one look at the shoes and headed for the 70% off rack.  “No Grandma!”  I will wear these.”  He picked up the ones we had looked at first, the ones Mindy had. “They will do just fine,”  he said.

He tried them on and they fit him perfect. They looked great, until he rolled his foot up on his toes and I saw the back of the shoe.  On the heel of the shoe was two very pretty gold hearts.  My heart stopped and I pulled my purse closer to my body.  Now I really had to search my soul.  Do I save 30 dollars and let him wear the pretty hearts, or look for something else.  I was now crossing that thin line into insanity.

I had to ask myself two things, was I gong to do what Luci would do, or was I going to listen to the voice of my brother Clyde.   Each voice was telling me a different thing.

Luci’s calm voice was saying, “ Don’t do this to Cameron.  It will scar him for the rest of his life. The boys at school will tease him and ruin his self image.”

Clyde, in my other ear was saying, “He deserves to wear those shoes after what he did to me.  Buy them now!  Hurry and buy them now!”

I heard myself say every so downheartedly, “Cammy, you can’t have those shoes.”

He looked at me with a very strange look, “Grandma,what are you talking about?’

“They have hearts on them Cameron.”  He jerked the shoes off with total disgust. 

As he pulled the shoes off, I heard the lady’s voice over the loud speaker,  “Please go to the nearest checkout counter and check out. The store will close in 5 minutes.”

Cameron ran for the $50 shoes he had wanted.  No turning back now.   He had won.  My purse was broke, but Cammy still had his manhood intact.  Thanks a lot Luci!  I should have listened to Clyde.  I would have $30 in my pocket.

 

Grandma Jeff