Jim Dailey

Traditions first …

Almost everyone has some sort of tradition … maybe it’s the family gathering at Christmas or Birthdays, maybe the annual trip to the ski slopes or the beach, maybe it’s certain beverages, decorations, songs, biblical/poetic readings on special occasions.  

I have lots of traditions … my Charlie Brown Christmas Backpacking, my Friday lunch with a group of guys and our annual ski trip, my annual hike in a National Park, my yearly holiday celebrations with friends and relatives and Christmas Eve Mass in one of our beautiful downtown churches.

The Tradition profiled in this blog entry has centered for 40 years around this shoe … actually a pair of these shoes …

Some 40 years ago the Dailey and Goodin families were enjoying a summer canoe float trip on the Buffalo National River.  Patti Dailey was having difficulty keeping her flip flops on while dragging the canoe through shallow water.  Gwen Goodin was perfectly comfortable in her tennis shoes. The Goodins grew up around lakes, rivers and boats … the Daileys grew up around concrete swimming pools and indoor plumbing.  With 10 miles remaining on the river there was no shoe solution to be found.  Note the operative words … To Be Found.  Yep, miracle of miracles … a pair of well worn Adidas materialized and have continued to materialize at special events for over 40 years.

There was another piece of humor at the time of the find  … the shoes were too small for Patti, in fact too small for Gwen even with her very petite feet.  What to do? No problem, Patti would wear Gwen’s shoes and Gwen would wear the newly found pair … simple, why didn’t I think of that?  … now both ladies had shoes that were too small.  Never underestimate the creativity of wives and mothers in a challenging situation.

Now Flash forward forty years to New Year’s Eve 2013 … this series of pictures should sum it all up.  Gwen thought she was opening the boxes containing the glasses for our traditional New Year’s Champagne toast.  Was she surprised or what?

Over the forty years, this pair of shoes has shown up at weddings, birthdays, anniversaries … always when least expected.  Sometimes painted colors of the event, sometimes decorated for the season but always in the spirit of friendship and tradition … tradition being one of the ingredients that binds couples and families together whether near or far.  We are blessed to have had this friendship for all these years … Happy New Year to All