September 2008 - The Senior Times

Larry’s Shoes closes after 68 years
Byron Toben
Larry’s Shoes, a fixture on Queen Mary since
1940, closed its doors on August 31.
Back in the 1920s, Alan Levy’s grandfather, a recent
immigrant to Montreal, founded M. Levy Shoes
on St-Laurent near Napoleon, not far from Moishe’s
Steakhouse. His son Larry followed Horace Greeley’s
famous advice to“go West, young man”and opened
the Queen Mary location in 1940. Alan joined in
1961 and assisted until 1986, when Larry retired at
the age of 86. Alan then ran the shop on his own for
22 years. Until now – truly the end of an era.
The store was always family oriented. In 1997, the
focus shifted to seniors, reflecting the changing de-
Kids having kids
Natacha Tremblay
Claire (not her real name) is 16. In two months, she
will graduate from high school at the top of her class.
This summer, she will travel abroad on an internship
with Doctors without Borders. In September,
she will begin studying Pure and Applied Science at
Dawson.In October,she will give birth to a baby boy.
“I’ve always been more mature than most people my
age so I don’t see a problem with having a baby,”Claire
says.“The way I see it, if I start having kids early, I finish
having kids early too and I’m not too old and ugly
to have fun by the time my kids go away to college.”
Claire says she is going to work as the manager of
a Shell gas station and move out of her house to
marry her boyfriend, who is 26, as soon as possible.
According to Angela Freeman, a pediatric psychologist,
the phenomenon of teens wanting to become
parents is neither a new trend nor a rare one.
34 THE SENIOR TIMES September 2008
mographic of the neighbourhood.In this age of Asian
imports, Al Levy reminds us that Quebec was once a
center of quality shoe manufacturing with brands like
Slater,Tetrault,McFarland-Lefevbre and White Cross.
In the 1970s, the U.S. invaded with names like Florsheim
and Brown. More than shoe offerings are disappearing
with this closing. Al Levy is known in the
district for his humourous schmoozing and recollections
of history.Larry’s was always good for shoes and
sympathy, and will be sadly missed.
“Summing it up, my clients were my extended
family, and many are upset. When you build up a
lot of trust, it goes a long way — the handshakes
and the hugs hurt. This is the end of one chapter,
and the beginning of another.”
“I’ve dealt with cases where 12-year-olds came to
me, telling me they felt they were ready to become
parents,” Freeman said. “Most of them don’t go
through with it, but sometimes it happens.” Freeman
explained that this usually appears when a
child did not have a real family life, or had a bad one.
Having an older significant other is also a reason
teens may resort to having children. She says that
being involved with an older person and trying to
keep the relationship interesting is a lot of pressure.
“Teens often agree to do things per the demand of
their older significant other, but the drastic decision of
having a child at 15 or 16 usually indicates that the person
has extremely advanced emotional dependency,”
Freeman said. “The most likely scenario is that these
teenshaveneverfeltlovedbyanyoneuntiltheymetthis
manorwomanandtheyarenotwillingtogivethatup.”
Claire, who is already four months pregnant, says
she decided to have a baby because she felt it was
the right time in her life. Her parents say the
young girl never showed any signs of emotional
instability and claim they were not aware she had
been dating an older man for over a year.
“I knew they wouldn’t approve of my boyfriend
and that they wouldn’t approve of me having a baby,
that’s why I didn’t tell them,” Claire said. “It has
nothing to do with me being ashamed. I am so
proud of being pregnant. It’s the only good thing
that’s ever happened to me.” After meeting Claire,
Freeman says she is not surprised by her decision.
She was an overachiever being run into the ground.
“Often,overachieving teens feel like the love of their
parents depends on their achievements and they seek
the unconditional love a child will give them,” Freeman
said.“They feel the need to start a family so that
they can avoid making the same mistakes with their
children that they feel their parents made with them.”
Freeman says teens will continue having children
younger and younger as family values disintegrate in
North America due to the lack of family bonding or
parental presence in a child’s life. “I was never very
close to my parents and I really want to be very close
to this baby,” Claire said. “I want to be like the
Gilmore Girls with my son.Yeah, that would be nice.”
UPCOMING
The Senior Times
Semiannual
Housing
Supplement
October ’08
Honouring
our veterans
November ’08
Répertoire des
ressources
pour 50+ December ’08
Grandparents
raising
grandkids January ’09
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