31 Days of Life Stories #29

I feel like I'm on a roll for embarrassing stories, so here's another one, this time a tale about my hubby when we were first married:

My mother-n-law was a whiz with a needle and could patch anything where it almost looked like new. Keeping that in mind, my husband felt anything could be fixed. 

He loved high top Converse tennis shoes in black canvas. He had a pair that was really worn out. He decided to get a new pair. His thrifty soul was horrified at the cost. (I can't remember what the cost was, but I know it was nothing like the cost of high tops today.)

Now, that he had a nice new pair, he was going to save them for "dress" and wear the old ones doing things around the house or at the shop.

Except, one day he got in a hurry and mistakenly put on the new pair to go dirt biking.  At the end of the day, he came home with a gash in his brand new tennis shoe.

Mournfully he set them in the closet and resigned himself to saving up for a new pair.

Except, one day an idea flashed in his mind. Why not patch the tennis shoe? Mom could patch anything. However, he did not want to wait to go to Mom's.

He wanted it fixed right now.

He knew not to ask me ... I had no needle skills. Besides, that day I was sick as a dog and laying in bed nursing what felt like the flu.

He would just do it himself, by cracky!

His plan was to cut a patch out of the old set of tennis shoes. It would be a little faded but it would be the same kind of material as his new tennis shoe. Once he sewed the patch in, he felt it wouldn't be too noticeable. He laid all his paraphernalia (including all 4 of his tennis shoes) out on the bed, the one I was lying in, because why not let me share in his activities?

I was not enthusiastic about his plan and turned on my side and closed my eyes. Why must he make the bed shake so much with his cutting and sewing? I tried to not think about my stomach rolling.

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of disgust, "Well shoot!" as a tennis shoe hit the wall.

He had accidentally cut up the OTHER good tennis shoe. Now his new tennis shoes both looked worse than the old ones.

I forgot all about my sickness as I laughed hysterically ... All. Day. Long. 

This post is #29 in my series, 31 Days of Life Stories. Hundreds of writers are linking up at the 31 Day Writing Challenge hosted by Crystal Stine. There is a wealth of information on many topics. Go visit and see! I'll be posting under the category "Inspiration and Faith."