"My Shoes"

My feet hurt.  Not literally, but figuratively.  I've heard this poem read, and just came across it in print. Wearing these shoes hurts, even when sitting.  Especially when sitting in an airport, waiting to go home after a maternal and child health conference where I AM the sad statistics presented.  Especially when sitting in an airport, and every happy family with a little baby girl wants to sit right next to me or directly across from me.

I don't know who the original author of this poem is, and I google it to find "Author Unknown".  But I, too, wear these shoes.

My shoes... I am wearing a pair of shoes. They are ugly shoes. Uncomfortable shoes. I hate my shoes. Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair. Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step. Yet, I continue to wear them. I get funny looks wearing these shoes. They are looks of sympathy. I can tell in other's eyes that they are glad they are my shoes 

and not theirs. They never talk about my shoes. To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable. To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them. But, once you put them on, you can never take them off. I now realize that I am not the only one who wears these shoes. There are many pairs in this world. Some women are like me and ache daily as they try to walk in them. Some have learned how to walk in them so that they don't hurt quite so much. Some have worn the shoes so long that days will go by before they think about how much they hurt. No woman deserves to wear these shoes. Yet, because of these shoes I am a stronger woman. These shoes have given me the strength to face anything. They have made me who I am. I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.