A Christmas Story:The Story of the Christmas Shoe

By Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes

           Humor. 
           Humor can be as essential as love in holding together a family.  Humor has always been an important element of our family.  One example of this is the story of the Christmas Shoe.
           It began in 1973, at the wedding of Lynn Johnson and Steve Galloway.  Lynn Johnson’s maternal grandmother, Hilda Glandon Meredith, had a dear friend named Dorothy Burke, who gave Lynn a very unusual wedding gift.  It was a shoe. A very large high-heeled shoe, painted blue (Lynn’s bridal color) and decorated from heel to toe in sparkling costume gemstones and glitter.
           Mrs. Burke had a good heart, and there was no doubt she had exerted considerable effort in preparing this thoughtful….if rather unappreciated gift. Lynn’s younger sister, Bobbi,  found considerable humor in the gift, and delighted in teasing her sister.  Just where did Lynn plan to display this interesting ornament?

A Pair of Wedding Shoes

           When Bobbi was married three years later, Lynn slyly re-gifted the shoe to her sister, as a bridal shower present.  What neither girl knew at the time was that Mrs. Burke had prepared another shoe (this one lavender, Bobbi’s bridal color) for the new bride.  So, instead of one shoe, Bobbi had a pair…..one blue, one lavender.
           After another three years went by, Lynn and Steve moved into their new home, and for a house warming gift…..yes that’s right….Bobbi presented them with a lovely pair of shoes.  One blue, one lavender.
          Steve was not particularly thrilled with the housewarming gift.  Mysteriously, the shoes disappeared.   Both Bobbi and Lynn were a little sad.  They not only enjoyed the good natured re-gifting….but felt a little guilty for Mrs. Burke, who had quite seriously, spent considerable time in crafting the ornate shoes.
            The years flew by, as years do, and occasionally the family discussed the pair of bridal shoes, and regretted their “mysterious” disappearance.

Reviving the Tradition

           Almost twenty years after the first shoe appeared, Bobbi Johnson Holmes decided it was time to re-initiate the tradition of the re-gifted shoe, this time, in the guise of a Christmas Shoe.  Bobbi purchased a pair of large, gold, high heel shoes, and with her daughter, Elizabeth, began decorating one shoe.  With glue gun in hand, they added fake pearls, and green and red beads. After it was properly garish, they named it the Christmas Shoe…the gift with sole.  
           They invented the bridal shoe tradition.  Over the next 15 years, the shoe bounced between the Holmes and Galloway households. It was always important to slip the shoe to the other family un-expectantly…..which meant that some years the shoe was not re-gifted, but waited quietly for the right time to be “sprung” on the other family. 
           In 2006 Bobbi's son, Scott, announced his engagement to his beautiful and sweet girlfriend, SeAnne, a new generation, starting their lives.  Who better to give the Christmas shoe!  With the blessings of Lynn Johnson Galloway and Bobbi Johnson Holmes, the Christmas Shoe passed in 2006 to Scott and SeAnne.  May they someday re-gift it to an unsuspecting Galloway or Holmes family member.
            Merry Christmas!