Thursday, March 24, 2005

The red shoes story

I have to let folks know why I posted the picture of Josef with the red shoes...

There are several reasons actually...

1. They were a gift from Oma und Opa
2. They fit him finally
3. They remind me of my grandmother

Grandmother you say?

Yes, my dear Zun. Zun is my maternal grandmother, though she passed away and only lives on in our hearts. Zun is her nickname, her real name is Mary. No one knows what Zun means, it is just something her husband (aka Grandpa Honey) called her and is used by many... Zun is a marvelous grandmother. She grew up relatively poor in a TB community in Arizona (Barry Goldwater lived in it too and chased her or pulled her pigtails... I seem to recall). Her mother was a nurse and her father a railroad engineer and poet (he had the TB).

One thing she wanted as she was growing up was a pair of red shoes, but, they were too expensive and she never got them. My aunt is an artist, and made a painting of a picture of Zun and her mother when they went on a trip to California, in the painting she gave Zun red shoes. My grandmother loved that painting so much. Someday, if I get the chance I will post a picture of it.

So, red shoes remind me of my dear Zun, and so I had to put that picture of Josef wearing red shoes... just in case she can see it.

4 comments:

Nettie said...

I thought there might be a story behind the red shoes. What a beautiful way to remember your Zun.

Notes from the Trenches said...

What a beautiful story and an even more beautiful baby :-)

Love those red shoes!

Jules said...

I love the red shoes and the story :)

I'm out and about tonight just letting people that have linked to my site know that my url has changed. The new location for my blog is http://psychologyofmotherhood.com.

Jordana said...

I like that story of red shoes. Your grandmother sounds like she would have been a wonderful person to know. Which then makes me wish I'd been old enough to appreciate and learn more about my grandparents before they died. You and Andrew may have spent more time hanging out with them than I ever did.