Leather Sandals

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It was her shoes that I noticed first. Resting in a pile on the wooden hostel floor, my eyes were immediately drawn to their uniqueness. Tattered from years of wear, dusty brown leather with stretched cross-straps barely clinging to the sole.

Once I finally met the owner of these shoes, I realized that she could be epitomized in her shoes. She was reading quietly in the corner and glanced furtively toward our game every few pages. She was a frazzled-looking, grandmotherly figure reading a book in German. I learned that her name was Rosemary and she was a lot tougher than she looked. She went for a swim in the ocean every day (the Mediterranean SEA, she corrected me; oceans are a lot bigger). Born in Germany, she moved to Italy, but winters in Crete, where she can enjoy each day in the sunshine. She had a gentleness about her that was comforting, even to a stranger.

Every day, she would wish me well on my way into the city and touch my arm. When commenting on the fabulous weather, she would say, "enjoy it now, you never know how long it will last". Over a cup of Greek coffee, she told me about a cat that she had heard calling from a rooftop. Rosemary felt the cat was calling to her, asking for help. She somehow convinced a Greek man to find a ladder for her so that she could climb to the roof of the building and rescue the cat. Her brazenness impressed me, especially for her age. She was greatly offended that the man would not allow her to climb up to the roof and went ahead to do it himself. Unfortunately for Rosemary, the cat ran away after the incident on the roof. This did not deter her, as she came back to the same place to watch for it every day. She was very excited yesterday when she went to the building and heard the cat calling again! Afraid that it had died, she was overjoyed that it appeared again. I suspected a swatch of loneliness in her patchwork life. Such dedication to a stray animal and incredibly generous nature were signs of a void needing to be filled.

When it was time to leave the hostel, she earnestly told me that she was sad I was leaving, and we hugged goodbye. Rosemary looked world weary on outside, but was vibrant and strong to the core. She exuded warmth and lived by the saying, "enjoy every minute".

We have come into contact with so many individuals, some that have positive impacts like Rosemary, and others that have stretched my mind in unbelievable ways. We have met a lot of people with vastly different opinions and have been enriched by each person weve met.



This collection of pictures are a random assortment from our past few days in Crete.

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Comments

[Amy Snyder]

pics
The pics are gorgeous! Very pretty view!