Black Sandals

Graduation in Honduras is important.  And, it does matter what graduation; kindergarten, sixth grade, high school.  Whatever graduation it is, it is important.  Often the girls have to all have the same color dresses.  Everything has to be just so.

Tomorrow Any and Josue graduate from Kindergarten.  Any has a lavender dress.  It was Guadalupe's graduation dress and it has been completely remade to fit Any.  Josue's lavender shirt and black pants have been ironed.  His black shoes shined to perfection.  All things were in order.  Or so we thought.

Nicole thought Any needed black shoes and she was going to wear Haley's black school shoes.  Dilma told me at 4:30 Any needed black sandals, not black shoes.  Dilma said Mirian told Nicole.  Nicole insists she said black shoes.  Who said what and who heard what was really immaterial.  I had to find black sandals, little bitty black sandals, and I had to find them soon. 

I was thankful graduation is at 1:00, not 10:00.

Weighing my options, I could leave for Tegucigalpa and know with certainty, I would not get back in time for my 7:30 Bible study with Camille.  I could leave for Tegucigalpa early tomorrow, be at Wal-Mart when it opened and pray like everything that I found little black sandals at Wal-Mart, and hope I got back in time.  I opted for the morning run to Tegucigalpa with hopes I could figure out something else before morning. 

Nicole has lots of boxes and suitcases of stuff at her house that the groups have left.  She began going through those.  We began asking the neighbors that have little girls if they had black sandals we could borrow.  I was not in the least ashamed of this action.  And, I was telling everyone I was praying for black sandals to appear.  I did not want to go to Tegucigalpa in the morning.  Ana came back from the preacher's house with black sandals in her hand.  I began praising God.  A bit prematurely.  The sandals were black and they were little.  A bit too little.  Ana returned the sandals and they looked for another pair, to no avail.

I was earnestly praying for black sandals, when I had the most marvelous idea ( and I do know where that idea came from.  Thanks be to God.).  Remembering that two years ago all the girls were in Byron and Pamela's wedding and all had white sandals.  There were so many pairs, surely one would fit Any.  I found one pair that was a perfect fit.  Now to find the shoe polish.

The first two tins of black shoe polish were empty or dried up.  We looked in the pantry.   We looked in the bodega.  And found a brand new tin.  Black shoe polish had never looked so good.  Doris took a rag and the black shoe polish just smeared across the sandals.  This was not going to work.  Dilma kept saying this was a really good idea.  But, it was not working.  Someone remembered chemcol.  We had chemcol, but it was white.  Not exactly what I needed.  With a little bit of money, Doris (the employee) went rushing off to the pulperia.  I was just pacing.  I did not want to go to Tegucigalpa tomorrow.

Finally, Doris returned with black chemcol, a shoe dye.  She began putting it on the white sandals.  And, it was working.  I was so excited.

Any will have black sandals tomorrow.  I am so thankful for chemcol and that I don't have to go to Tegucigalpa tomorrow. 

It will be a great day tomorrow as we watch our two little kindergarteners graduate.

Terri