There’s a Norman Rockwell-styled advertisement featuring a cobbler diligently crafting some durable soles. He is sketched in a moment of peering up from his trade to twinkle at the artist. White hair and matching mustache, he rests under a long apron dusty from effort. This poster is featured on a wall in the shoe repair shop entryway–on the border keeping customers away from the work area. It hangs over a stack of freshly repaired ostrich cowboy boots. Nearby pairs of unclaimed leather dress shoes await a special occasion. A set of tap shoes gleams under the fluorescent light.

And the owner of the shop ambles up–like the caricature on the wall come-to-life-sans-‘stache. He brushes his white hair back, then wipes his hand on his long blue apron. He peers at the claim ticket and cranes his neck up to inspect the smiling face of my very tall brother, here to…