It was a cool and clear October day in West Virginia. My father told me he was going to take me to a larger city in Maryland, about twenty-one miles away, Cumberland. I was about five years old. A friend of my father brought his two little boys along with us. The boys were around the same age as me. We were all walking around having a good time. When my shoestring came lose, I told my father. He told me to tie it. I said I did not know how, my mother always tied my shoes. He schooled me in front the other people and tried to teach me right there. I was hurt and humiliated and could not learn a thing. That day when I got home I started to teach myself how to tie my shoes. I worked and worked and I figured out a way to do it. I still tie my shoes that way. It’s unusual and I don’t know of anyone to this day that ties their shoes like I do. I really like the way I tie my shoes.