This pic of two sisters with very different experiences being dressed alike reminded me of Mim & the saddle shoes, a heartbreaking & illuminating moment in my young life.
Mim, who would have been around 17 years old (1962), had a pair of white & brown saddle shoes. Classics, real beauties.
When Mom & I (all of nine years old) went out shoe shopping, I had to get a similar pair. I was so thrilled, coming home & dashing into our bedroom to put them on. I sashayed into the living room, all sparkly at having a pair of shoes just like my sister's. Mim took one look at my feet & her face went dark.
"You got a pair just like mine!"
It was not said with any suggestion of happiness.
Two memories - feeling utterly crushed & also astonished. Even at nine, I couldn't miss that she felt betrayed. If her spoken reaction didn't fully convey her feelings, the fact she never wore her beautiful pair of brown saddle shoes again drove the message home.
An early glimmering into the unexpected reality that Mim & I did not experience life in the same way.
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