An Ode
It was time, you know.
Your silver buckles have started to fade, your custom-made insoles have long disappeared and your size 7 1/2 just wasn't going to cut it anymore.
I hope you don't feel betrayed. We've stayed together a while, we had our run. I was 13 when we met, remember? Todd, my ski coach, helped me pick you out.
You were the best, at the time, only the junior version. You gave me all the flex I needed, as well as all the control. You fit perfectly. Despite the hideous color, some would have even called you fashionable. The "it" thing.
We've accomplished a lot together. If my very rough calculations are correct, we've spent more than 3,000 hours together. That's more than four months, non-stop. Do you remember the trips to Winter Park for training with the ski team? The speed runs before the lift opened? Hiking up the hill at 7 a.m.? Sitting next to me in the team van when I got car sick and puked all over the Nebraska and Colorado highway systems?
That's not even when you served me best. Do you remember all the practices, all the races? Hanging out with Margo? She used to have a pair just like you. You always seemed to enjoy yourself more at the high school races than at the U.S.S.A. races. Less pressure.
To tell you the truth, I should have replaced you a long time ago. You turned from the "it" boot, to the "almost it" boot, to the "aren't those from a few years ago?" boot to the "I can't believe she's still wearing those" boot. All my other equipment changed. I grew. My skiing changed. But you didn't. And I couldn't let go.
When I bought you, I had never even kissed a boy. I didn't know how to the play the trumpet. I don't even think I knew how to type. The Internet didn't really work. Since we've been together, I've finished middle school, high school and college. President Clinton was elected for a second term. You don't even want to know what's happened since then.
So don't feel bitter that you're in my closet now. Maybe I'll build you a display shelf. It's been swell, really. But I've found somebody new, for 25 percent off. And they're half a size bigger.
posted by Sophie at 9:21 PM
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