Exceptional A free verse on shoes for the club challenge I Took a Walk by June Sargent Artwork by rhamza at FanArtReview.com

I took a walk in my husband's shoes by listening to his story ~ a story of a family who left their homeland centuries ago in search of freedom and the right to worship ~ and how they arrived at this point of their journey I then began walking in my friend's shoes as she related how her family lost their freedom when they were uprooted from their home to be shipped to this land to work as slaves ~ and the trials they endured to get to this point I also tried to walk in another friend's shoes to learn how her ancestors were here long before the arrival of the Mayflower and slave ships ~ how they were forced to live on reservations and the courage it took to leave I have often thought about my dad's shoes ~ the ones I have tried to fill through the years He was a proud yet humble man who had emigrated from his homeland as a teenager and embraced his new home ~ a home he defended in World War Two He was the one who had taught us that no matter where we all came from ~ the journey we take together now can be much more peaceful and pleasant If we simply learn to walk in one another's shoes Recognized Author Notes The admonition to walk a mile in someone else's shoes means before judging someone, you must understand his experiences, challenges, thought processes. The full idiom is: Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. In effect, it is a reminder to practice empathy.

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