Surely she had to have plopped down on the linoleum to make the final negotiation involved not only in getting into, but pulling herself upright in Papa’s boots. I can still hear the scream of glee.

See how her tiny, clipped nail polished fingertips – like those of a gymnast who has mastered a complicated maneuver – are held in ready, with the finishing gestures of fragile balance? It’s a long way back down to the floor, when one is perched in boots that are too tall and too big – when soft small toes, slipping and grasping, are trying to decode the depths of a well worn instep.

Fall 1998
Sarah Grace, 3 years
Footsize: Child’s 10
Boot size: Men’s 12
Decibel level: 101.2