Tina Mitchell Wilkins
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Go-Aheads

11/29/2021

4 Comments

 
I bought some very impractical slippers a few months back. I thought they would be great for recovery after the long days on the Portuguese Camino. They have some kind of fur in them and 2 straps that criss cross at the front of the foot. They are grey and about a half an inch in height. They felt super comfortable when I walked around DSW in them. They are not sexy. Not by any stretch. But like I said, I thought they would be great to rest my feet in after the long walks.

I ended up not taking them on the trip, because I ran out of room in my suitcase. Then, when we returned to Austin, it was summer for another two months. Too warm to wear fuzzy slippers.  Finally, the weather dropped below 80, so I pulled them out of the closet. Well,  my recovery slippers make me look clunky & caused me to trip...like... a lot. Not only are they NOT comfortable, but they are pretty hideous. They are a little too (with all do respect) guy-like and they are not very practical to wear. BUT, they have a furry lining, so maybe I will give them another try tomorrow.   

Truthfully, they remind me of the sandals my dad would wear after he would come back from a run. He would shower, put on his finest terrycloth shirt and 1 of 2 pair of shorts he owned, pour a nice bourbon and walk around in his “go-aheads”. You can’t walk backwards in your go-aheads...that’s why he called them, well, go-aheads. Try it sometime. Especially the kind of slippers/sandals that have the criss cross type of strap.

My dad was a go-ahead kind of guy. He was positive by nature, always uplifting to my brothers, our mom and me. He simply was a solid, lovely human. I often wonder what he would be like now. He left this earth early from pancreatic cancer in 1994. Even when he was wasting away, he would put on his go-aheads and slowly walk around the house. Always moving forward, never feeling sorry for himself. We all cried in the hospital when the doctor told us that he was terminally ill. He said, “I can’t believe I am leaving you."  Not poor me. Not bitter. Not angry. Deeply sad of course, but not for himself. He only lasted 3 months after the diagnosis.
​

So maybe I’ll keep these dang go-aheads. I’ll trip in them, yes, but I’ll keep moving forward, forever onward and clumsily upward.
4 Comments
Fred Fuller link
11/30/2021 06:21:15 am

I have often thought about the friends that I have deep connections with, how cool it would have been to have met their folks...many of them I think I would also have a deep connection with.......what a great story!

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Sherry johnson
11/30/2021 07:35:49 pm

Oh Tina….I will forever remember this, and think of you and your Dad. Go-a heads…..very compelling, very heart warming. I love you

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Janice
12/4/2021 05:59:25 pm

I have some warm bunny slipper....quite hideous but warm and cute. They will now be called my go-aheads!! I LOVE this story of your dad...You were truly blessed!!

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Your loving cousin Connie
12/19/2021 10:16:28 pm

Oh, Tina.

What a beautiful tribute to your sweet Dad. Dave and I were on a road trip and I saw you had a new post up, so I said hey, let me read this to you...you won't believe what a great writer Tina is. Suffice to say, I sobbed through the whole post and Dave couldn't understand anything I said. But I've added Go-Aheads to my vocabulary and it is another reminder of both you and your Dad. I did, between the sobs, crack up about him going for a run, showering, dressing in his best comfy clothes, and pouring a bourbon. Ha ha. All my memories of him are sweet and funny. Much love to you. XO

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    Observing things and hopefully writing about them. 

    The War of Art is my go=to book.  If you are a creator of things.. I recommend it highly. 

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