In a house, the sound of footsteps is a tell, like a set of fingerprints. Growing up I knew from the sound of footsteps who was walking down the hall and approaching my bedroom. My dad walked slower than my mom, and my brother had a heavier step.
In our house, Diana has a calmer sound to her steps, deliberate but not ever running. Buffy moves with a soft pitter-patter, with the slight clicking of her toenails (especially if we are behind in her grooming routine). Ollie on the other hand, especially first thing in the morning, moves with the sound of thunder. It’s an energetic spurt of pounding that echoes through the house, sometimes accompanied by the slamming of a door. The funny thing is that usually when I see him walking around the house, he is doing just that, walking. However, for some reason, when I listen for his steps when he is in other places of the house, there’s thunder.
The sound of Ethan crawling changes. If he has nothing in his hand, you can hear the slaps of his palms on the floor. If he has something he is carrying (which he often does in one hand), like a peg-leg pirate, there can be the clicking of a wooden block hitting the floor followed by his palm. More than anything else, the sound of his locomotion is produced by his mouth. Sometimes it’s him blowing raspberries while he moves. Other times, he’s vocalizing gentle signs, and other times it’s high-pitched excited screams. The worst times are when it’s a panicked cry, and the urgency of his crawl creates a tragic duet with his cries.
The newest sound of steps in our house is Ethan walking. In the past week he has started walking. The sound of his steps is usually covered by his own squeals of excitement, and our encouragement. However when you do listen for his steps, it’s really special. He wears these soft leather shoes called Robeez (they are wonderful, I highly recommend them). The sound of the leather on the hardwood floor is gentle, slow, and uneven. Sometimes barely audible, and at other times they speed up almost becoming a steady rhythm until he falls forward or back, with a soft “plop” coming to rest on his bottom.
Only in the quiet moments do you hear these movements around the house. It’s when the technology is quiet, the chores are done, and the mind is calm that the movements around the house are noticed. Like feeling the breath of Ethan in his crib, or feeling Buffy’s presence in the corner of the room, these movements and these steps are a reminder of the love in my life, and family.
I share these celebration of knowing acknowledging the privilege my whole family shares of being able to move freely around the house. To walk, to step, and to run, is not something everyone shares. And this depth of knowing is not limited to how we move through space, and for one who does not in the ways describe, is no less valued or able to be known. A sound of steps is just one way to be feel home, but not more important. It’s important to think about this privilege because it helps us think deeper, appreciate further, and understand our responsibility and our relationship to others.
Theses sounds will change and evolve leaving impressions and feelings. They are a reminder of presence, and our own existence. It is a unique feelings of something so close to our heart moving towards us in space, closing the gap between those we love and ourselves.
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