Shoe Shopping -- with a back injury

Skirt: Initiatives; Bangles, and little ring: vintage; Large ring: Effy

I went shopping for summer shoes the other day. This is not easy for someone with a back injury.

I need very good arch support, and velcro instead of buckles because I can't twist properly to do up side buckles (and I still tie laces crooked). I was also hoping beyond hope to find sandals that met these requirements and looked good. I'm only 42. Does being handicapped mean I have to look like I'm 90?

I did finally find success, though I paid more than I can really afford on my reduced income. Wait for my next post to see what I got.

Shirt: Initiatives; Sunglasses: thrift; Earrings: Birks; Ring: vintage gift from Beau

The other thing that makes shopping for shoes (or anything) hard is how much it hurts my back. After a few hours, and only a few blocks, I was in terrible pain and utterly exhausted. 

In case you didn't know it, pain is incredibly exhausting. It's a bit like having the flu -- all the time.

I get pretty demoralized when such outings remind me, yet again, of just how restricted I am in my activities. "It's just a little shopping trip," I'll tell myself beforehand. By about halfway through, I'm feeling like I'm going to cry, and clinging to Beau's arm, not out of affection, but as a cane or a crutch.

This is "our" little tiny car, of which there are several hundred shared. (The photo's from a few months ago.) I don't know how Beau manages to fold himself up into it, and it's not very back friendly, but it's greatly increased my mobility as neither of us owns a car.

Beau and I belong to a car share program but when we were finished shopping, there was no car close enough for me to walk to in the state I was in. Beau toodled off to get a car, and I had a refreshing, if sad, few moments to rest in the shade on a bench -- beside a tulip.

A sad but successful day.