Borrowed Glory

Coping strategy #5

One of my many pastimes is going to estate sales and digging through what other people treasured. It’s where I found this pail of autographed ballet shoes. The scrawled names aren’t familiar, but I can tell they meant a lot to their former collector. For that reason, they mean a lot to me. I don’t like the idea of abandoning treasured items, even if they are not mine.

The collector of these shoes probably couldn’t dance anymore, but still appreciated the work and artistry the worn point shoes represented. Only someone who knows ballet will see the hours of pain, the bruises, the misshapen feet. Now they sit on a desk in what passes for a foyer in my apartment, reminding me that art lives forever.

It’s like the White House. Everyone understands what it represents. People see the pain and blood sacrificed to make it great. They learn about it in school. They sing songs about it. They waive pieces of fabric.

Donald Trump could be thinking the same thing these days. He picks up a…