Monkey Toes

For as long as I can remember, my family has mocked my feet (Don't try to deny it. You ALL have...except Mom.), which is probably why, all growing up, I was completely and totally paranoid about my feet. The tricky thing about paranoia is that if you are paranoid in any way about anything about yourself, without fail the public eye will focus in on it.

"WHOA! LOOK AT YOUR TOES!" A friend exclaimed once. Gee, did you think I hadn't noticed them these last few decades, especially with people like YOU to point out my obviously disturbing genetic flaw?

Years passed...

I was sitting on the porch with my beau, JP. It was summer, and I had unthinkingly left shoes off my monkey toes. Hey, even monkeys need their feet to breathe...Ever see a monkey with shoes? Yeah, exactly...

As we sat there enjoying the sun, JP looked at my feet and said,

"This might sound weird..."

I braced myself. So much for love being blind...

"But..."

WHAT? I thought. MY FEET LOOK WEIRD?? I HAVE THE FEET OF A PRIMATE? I KNOW I CAN PICK THINGS UP WITH MY FEET, YOU DON'T NEED TO REMIND ME HOW FREAKY THAT IS...WHAT???

"I like your feet."

Wha...?

You know that saying that it takes 10 positive statements to counteract a negative one? Well, in this case, it took one tiny comment like that to undo all the damage done over the years. Wow. Someone liked my feet.

It was like magic. All of the sudden, what people said didn't matter anymore. I got one person on my side, one vote in the affirmative, and that was all I needed. So, hooray for JP and his honesty (Yeah, I know what you are thinking...he was my boyfriend, yada yada yada, but the fact is he didn't HAVE to say anything about my feet at all. It's not like feet are a deal breaker in a relationship. Warts, on the other hand...). Take that, all of you who have at one point mocked my feet!...and my eyes...and my belly button...

So, after Lily was born, I was pleased to discover that along with inheriting my ears, eyes, lips, and fingers, Lily has my feet! Of course, hers are super cute and tiny...nevertheless, I hope that she doesn't have the same hang ups I have had. After all, God doesn't make mistakes. Everything He made is beautiful.