My father has worn the same model of boot for nineteen years.
It isn't loyalty. It's the only shoe his cobbler can reliably build up, and rebuilding the heel on a boot he already owns is simpler than starting over with one he'd actually like.
His right leg is half an inch shorter than his left. He found that out at fifty-one.
For most of my twenties I drove him to his appointments. Forty minutes on the table, and he'd come back out to the car standing like a taller man. Friday, good. Saturday, still good. By Monday the hip was catching on the stairs again, and on Wednesday he'd call and rebook.
I want to be careful here, because his chiropractor was excellent and I watched him work for years. The adjustment held for exactly as long as it was capable of holding. Then my father stood up, and the problem came back up with him.
It took our family eleven years to ask a question that should have taken eleven weeks.

