I think that I may  have a serious habit which my family knows  nothing about, and I think they might be worried about me if they did. They would probably insist that I seek help in the form of some kind of therapy. So here is my confession, and explanation.

I’ve always loved shoes, but have kept my obsession within the realms of normality. However in recent years the need to own footwear has begun to seep out into everyday life. My theory is that my face and body have begun to age and deteriorate, bordering on unsightliness, but my feet, and lower legs  still look fine and have therefore become my “best bits’.

My body doesn’t look great anymore so clothes have lost some of their appeal. My face has begun to crease and lose it’s firmness, so I’m obliged to focus on my feet. I also reckon that at my age of 63 I care not what anyone else thinks of me, so I wear what makes me happy. I don’t seek to impress anyone else. It is also true that unless I’m focused with one eye trained on a nearby mirror, I cannot appreciate my clothing. It’s the same reason why I’m not too impressed with hats or necklaces, because I can’t see them. I dress for myself, not anyone else.

A few days ago I attended a rather boring meeting, about a subject which didn’t really involve me. However, I wasn’t bored because I was able to stretch my legs forwards and spend the next 2 hours admiring my new, and beautiful, emerald green suede shoes. Theses shoes have a fuchsia pink suede heel and piping in black and white – luscious. This pair of gorgeous shoes were given to me by my very good friend Christine, who understands about the love of shoes. Christine has been suffering from an ankle problem and is no longer able to wear heeled shoes. Along with the green shoes, she has gifted me several other pairs of pretty shoes in various colours. How lucky am I? If I’m being honest, and I will try, I estimate ownership to be in the region of over 40 pairs of shoes, and about 15 pairs of boots. Many of the more special pairs reside in their original boxes. What may surprise you is that I haven’t spent a small fortune on my interest, Imelda Marcos I am not.

I shop mainly in the sales, outlet shops, for special offers, at markets abroad and even in charity shops. I am running out of places to house my collection though. I’ve taken over space in the guest room and my daughter’s wardrobe as she has now bought a house of her own.

I sincerely hope that my affliction does not have a genetic element to it. I’m not too worried about my younger daughter, but my older daughter, and my honorary daughter may be affected I fear. The 3 of us are all a size 7 so it would be possible to pool our resources, if we didn’t live a prohibitive distance apart. My younger daughter is only a size 4 or 5 so has escaped the grip of the size 7 “hunt”.

I feel so much better for getting rid of the guilt by talking openly about it, thank you for listening. I wonder if I could speak to you again about my love of rings, and handbags?

Bye for now.