Hello.
I’ve never written a letter like this before, but I just had to. I realize I’ve taken you for granted, Dearest Favorite Possession, and I am so sorry.
I have left you outside in the rain, sticky with mud, but you did not complain.
I have tromped through sticker weeds, but you protected me.
I have carelessly jumped from boulder to boulder, never once thinking you would cancel your loyalty to me and my safety.
I have walked miles upon miles in you, and you never quit on me. You never quit.
You are my Chacos, and I love you. Unconditionally. Forever.
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I have worn you to church, smart and sassy with a flippy skirt.
I have worn you camping, dusty with campground dirt and burning embers.
I have worn you hiking, pushing you to your absolute performance limits.
I have never worn you with socks, believing you to have all the beauty you need in your own design.
You have never failed me. You are everything and nothing all-in-one… emm, two.
I bought you 10 years ago, in the presence of dear friends. I don’t know if they know they witnessed the beginning of a true, heartfelt, and committed relationship… honestly, I didn’t know at the time myself. I’d been let down so many times before… I didn’t know. I didn’t know.
You have never been re-soled. You have never frayed. You are as pure as the day I brought you home. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Please don’t ever leave me… or, each other. I would cry. For a long time.
KatieKate
Do you have a love I should know about?
Apple pie, anyone? 
July 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Chacos are the BEST! I also love my tevas, and have never actually had to buy them. Twice friends have given me pairs of used tevas, and they have always served me well. Its early in the morning and i haven’t had enough coffee yet to be able to come up with a more creative answer to your question 🙂
July 28th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
my favorite thing will always and forever be, “The Boy”. You remember him, he was always there for me, he would wait outside in the rain just for me, he was strong, and silent (sometimes). He was amazing, my 4-runner. I will always and forever miss him. I am glad you got to know him. People in my life now never got the priviledge (sp) but you did, dear friend!
July 28th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
i have an old pair of birkenstocks….the kind with the full front, like a clog. i bought them 15 years ago while on a trip in Boston. i wanted them so badly that i actually bought them way too big convincing myself that they fit. they didnt. i wore them anyway flopping around on my feet. they have been worn down on the bottom and have very little sole left on the heel. i could have resoled them a long time ago…but now i fear it is too late. i bought a newer pair. i continually think about putting these out to pasture, but i keep removing them from the “to go” pile. i wear them more than my new ones. there is something just so comforting about them. they smell and are falling apart…but they are mine! oh…and after all these years they finally fit me.
(and i love your line about the lack of socks with your chacos. they ARE beautiful enough on their own!)
July 28th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
and for the record…i didnt realize the never-ending love that was blossoming before my eyes the day you bought your chacos…
but i had a guess!
chris still has his…and they ARE frayed and stinky and he wears them constantly winter, spring, summer of fall. i guess he puts them away for part of the winter. but only when the snow is higher than a few inches.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
That was beautiful. In ten years I will write a similar letter to MY new Chacos.
And you were there to witness the glorious beginning. I heart you, Kate.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
i have a patagonia blanket that was given to me by an old boyfriend back in highschool. i think i was sixteen. while the relationship did not last, the blankie i will love and keep forever. it’s the perfect weight to keep you warm and cozy on the front porch in a blizzard, but light enough for a summer nap in a hammock. it has been cross country camping, travelled to Mexico, swaddled my babies. it’s not particularly attractive, though i pretend it coordinates with every home decor i’ve lived with. i’ll never give it up.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
My Chacos, dirty, sweat stained and jealous that their cousins the Reef flip-flops are getting more mileage this summer, are asking me: “Why don’t you have a relationship like that with us, Ellie?” It is clear that I need to show them more affection if they are to support me in a long term relationship like you have with yours. I’m going now to tell them that I’m glad we had this talk.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
This is gonna sound funny, I admit.
But I have used the same “Goody Pick” for combing my hair since I was 16 or 17. I am now 35.
This pick has been to 20 countries with me and all over the USA.
She is strong.
She is sturdy.
She is blue.
She loves me true.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:55 am
I just said the other day when I was admiring a friends new flip flop chacos that I think mine were the prototype but they are still around and going strong! Love um
July 29th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I was sure Sunday would say her phone! She was the first person I knew to get one and has had one ever since!
I am thinking, well trying to thing. I dont do so well with the Pregnant brain. I know there is something……
July 29th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
My tiny tiny USB/ jumpdrive. It is so small and has its own little sleeve, and it is half the size of normal ones, but plugs into the same USB ports as everyone else’s. It is 2 GB and I carry my life on it and I love it. It’s my baby. 🙂
July 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I’m trying to think of what has been my longest relationship….
I’d say this pair of Silver brand jeans. I’ve had them since we lived in Chi-town…so for about 7 years. They seem to stretch and shrink, stretch and shrink, and stretch some more. They always fit nicely.
But, now they have a whole were my heart is, um knee. But I still love them. They’ve been through a lot, and I’m sure they will be through a lot more.
Maybe I’ll turn them into a bag or something when both the knees blow.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:09 am
Oh, girly. We are so alike and yet, so different. 😀
Hey, thanks for your words on my post. It’s nice to know you GET it. 😀
July 31st, 2008 at 5:46 am
This letter made me laugh so hard, but only because I feel the same way about my first pair of chacos, I had to have them resoled and them finally Dan made me get a new pair when Jen’s dog chewed the strap apart. I miss them, they were way cooler than any other pair I’ve ever seen.
Also, I could def. write a letter to Will’s BB (his blanky) becuase she has saved us in so many instances. Maybe I’ll do that.
I could also write a letter to my chair I sit at my table in to handbuild, it’s perfect in every way and it’s stolen, well I just snuck it away from the place I used to work, it really wanted to come with me. I still feel bad about that.