I ran across multiple problems along way. The first, my Velcro shoes. They were all the rage in my Kindergarten class the year before, but if I was going to be a big First Grader, I had to move up in the world. The second night of our two month vacation, I demanded that my mom take me to the store and purchase me a new pair of tennis shoes. It was a good hour of, “Those are ugly, Mom!” and, “No, I want laces!” but we didn’t leave empty handed. That night, I showed off my shiny, clean white Keds with little beads on the laces to anyone who would look.

Little did I know that those laces that I was so in love with, would soon become my worst enemy.