My great nephew began wearing boots to school when he entered high school last year. I had the honor of taking him boot shopping last year, where he picked up two pairs of boots. He also received a new pair of dressy Lucchese boots for Christmas. With three pairs of boots, he has become quite the young “bootman” and seldom wears sneakers any more, except when he plays sports. He thinks boots are cool.

A few weeks ago at a family birthday party, I asked him if he thought he had enough pairs of boots, or if he were interested in buying another pair to wear when school starts this year. His reply…

…”I’ve been looking for a pair of brown cowboy boots but don’t have much money. I really like yours,” pointing to my Tidewater Cowboy Boots that I was wearing. I really like these Tidewaters… they have broken in easily and are very comfortable. They have become a frequent “go-to” pair of boots that I wear fairly often, both to work and when knocking around on weekends.

A week later, I let my GN try on my Tidewaters. He liked how they felt and looked on him, but the boots were a bit too big. We looked at the Tidewater Cowboy Boots website (no longer in service as of Nov. 2018). He really liked the style, but the cost was out of his ballpark, since he has to pay for his own clothes from the money he earns from lawn mowing and other jobs. He decided to put a pair of Tidewaters on his wish list for Christmas.

Being kinda “into boots,” I receive a lot of email marketing promotions from various on-line boot vendors. We looked at the sales offers. My GN saw a pair of brown Dan Post cowboy boots that fit his budget and style. But because he doesn’t have a credit card, he asked me if I would buy the boots for him and he would pay me back.

I replied, “Sure — but wait a sec — you are still growing. Are you sure your foot size hasn’t changed?”

He thought that his foot might have grown somewhat, since he grew three inches taller during the past year. So I sent him on a mission to get his feet measured before placing an order. That was easy — he was going to the mall to see a movie later that day, so he found a store that sells sneakers and had his feet measured again.

Glad I asked — he is a half-size larger.

I placed the order for him and the boots were delivered rather quickly to his home. He came over to my house to pay me back last night, and he told me that he wore his new boots on the first day of school (which was yesterday.) He smiled when he told me that “a lot of friends noticed and complimented me on the boots.” He also said that some of his (male) friends who he convinced to wear boots last year took notice. It probably won’t be long before they get new boots, too.

Life is short: have faith in the young — they can become confident boot-wearing young men!