Mother's Day: Mom and daughter bond over a pair of white boots

May 7—TRAVERSE CITY — In 1944 the height of fashion for a 10-year-old girl growing up in Escanaba could be found inside the pages of the Sears and Roebuck Catalog.

Just about everything else a Midwestern home needed was in there too, and available by mail order.

Backyard swing set kits, cast iron skillets, living room furniture and even live chickens.

Mary Smith, who turned 90 in March, recalled being interested in only item — majorette boots, white leather, with tassels.

"Everybody had them," Smith said, during a recent interview at Cordia, in Grand Traverse Commons, where Smith moved about a year after her husband, Jim, died in 2018.

Every once in a while, Smith said she'd think about those boots.

"The boots were what all the girls I knew got for Christmas, but my mother told me no," Smith said. "That they wouldn't fit my feet, that my feet were too narrow."

Footwear was rationed during World War II and Smith remembers a pair of practical brown shoes with black laces her parents picked out instead.

Serviceable, yes, but also boring as all get out and about as far from the glamour inherent in white calf-length boots with fringed tassels as a shoe could be.

Smith said she has wanted a pair ever since — a wish her oldest daughter, Kim Volk, granted in March, at Smith's 90th birthday party.

"My mom has always been pretty independent and fun and cool," said Volk, who lives in Glen Arbor. "We were always pretty close. We do not see eye to eye on everything, but I could totally picture her wanting those boots."

In the 1990s, Volk was traveling in North Carolina and visited a gift store near Asheville. There, with the table linens, good china and knick-knacks, were a pair of white majorette boots.

Kim almost bought them right then, didn't, and said she later regretted it.

"When my mom was turning 90, I was like, OK, we have the internet," Volk said. "We have Google."

Volk found the boots in January on an Indiana-based cheerleading supplies website for $70 with free shipping.

Her mom's 90th birthday party was set for mid-March — meaning Volk had a secret to keep for nearly three months.

The excitement was too much.

"I told the garden club, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, I told everyone, but somehow we all kept it a surprise from my mom," she said.

Smith has four children: Two sons — Jim Smith who lives in Glen Arbor with his wife, Denise Smith, and Steve Smith, who lives in Redmond, Washington with his wife, Fran Smith; and two daughters — Kathleen Doyle, of Mercer Island, Washington, and Volk who lives in Glen Arbor with her husband, John Volk.

The family hosted a birthday party for Smith as planned, in March at Western Avenue Grill in Glen Arbor, where she opened her gift and was taken completely by surprise.

"There they were and really, I could hardly believe it," Smith said.

The restaurant's manager, Mario Ingrao, remembered the event and said the staff enjoyed Smith and her family so much, they took photos.

Smith and Volk agreed the boots are a kind of symbol of their relationship, which is close but with a big dose of independence.

Smith recalled telling her daughter about the boots only once or twice, but must have done so with feeling, because Volk remembered it.

And cared enough about her mother to give her something she's always wanted.

"No matter what she does, it always turns out great," Smith said, of Volk. "She's thoughtful, not just with me but with everybody."

Volk said she's learned a lot from her mother.

Both women had long careers in the dental field and Volk said her mom's management style — "people matter" — informed her own decision-making and influence her later in life.

"My sister told me not too long ago, 'You're like a clone of mom,'" Volk recalled. "And I said, 'You know what? That's a compliment!'"

Smith has so far worn the boots only once.

On a subtle promenade down to the front desk and back. It wasn't important to be seen wearing them, she said. Just knowing she has her own pair is enough.