I’ve been pondering what we acquire from our ancestors. Well, flat feet is something that I received from my mother. She said she inherited it from her grandmother. I guess Mom’s mother, Leora, escaped because she did a lot of walking her entire life.
I noticed that during the 1950s, when Leora and her mother visited relatives in Pasadena, CA, her mother (Laura Goff) stayed home rather than to hike to the Tournament of Roses parade route. I don’t remember her walking outside much when I was a girl. In the house, she shuffled from room to room.
Laura Jordan Goff was born in a log cabin just west of Monteith, Iowa, three years after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
For many years I walked an hour most days, about three miles each time. Having flat feet began to make it challenging, then fibromyalgia brought it to a halt two decades ago. During that time, Mom found relief for her flat-feet misery with shoe inserts, which gave her much more stamina on shopping trips.
Getting shoe inserts has been a godsend for me. I few years ago I couldn’t even walk a block and back, but most days I’m able to slog our 10-block loop. I could not do it without those inserts. I use them all the time and have less all-over pain just around the house.
Oh, I wish my great grandmother had been able to enjoy good shoe inserts in her day.
I know the feeling! And oh, that TV reminds me so much of the one my maternal grandparents had.
And she watched soap stories, which in those days lasted just 15 minutes each!
I guess we have to take the bad with the good when it comes to our ancestors. All of that walking has probably served you well.
You bet, Pete!
I was born with flat feet, but never had that problem. I find that people whose high arches fall have most of the problems. It’s a shame a person can’t walk because of it. My feet feel best when wearing shoes with No support.
Feet are complicated, aren’t they!
So many small bones.