Rachel Cannon

Knoxville, TN

I have had this pair of trashed Vans for about four years. It seems almost everyone’s pair of trashed Vans has stories about their adventures. I wore these black canvas shoes almost every day. I even wore them on a Florida beach and they still have some sand in them to this day.

These shoes have been worn to many of my college parties and the most special night of my life where I met my love at a party on campus. She had bright blue curly hair that I could never forget. I looked down at her feet and she had on the exact same black Vans as I did. I was wearing mine with black skinny jeans and she had hers paired with a skirt which gave her an effortless look which really intrigued me. From that moment on we were inseparable.

Our first real date was out for sushi. She scrubbed her trashed Vans with a toothbrush to make them appear a bit more new. Once these shoes are trashed there is no going back.

The part where my big toe meets the end of the shoe is where a small hole started to form after a few years of wearing the shoes with no socks. That is how you know how many adventures shoes have been on. I wore my Vans all during the one hundred degree summer when my girlfriend and I lived with one of my closest friends and his boyfriend. That summer was one of the most carefree times of our life. We tried all summer to move to Nashville so she could pursue her music. I had visions of her on stage in her Vans in Nashville. One day we will get to that point after school but we will always have each other and our pairs of trashed Vans. Maybe not on our feet but they will always have their place in the closet.