Sober Shoelaces

When I arrived in AA, one of the first things I had to do was buy shoes. All I had were flip-flops, and Reading, Pennsylvania, where I lived then, was cold in the winter. I'd never owned a pair of high-tops, so my grandmother sent me a pair. I thought it would be cool to have two-colored laces which were the style then. But I couldn't lace them up. Two women in the halfway house helped me put the laces in the shoes. Then I went to tie them. It took me a long time, way longer than it should have for someone in her early twenties. But the girls at the halfway house just laughed and encouraged me until I finally got it. I still laugh when I think about it today.