A lost sock obituary Bootsy

Bootsy was named in 2020 by a four-year-old who had just learned the word "boot" and was applying it widely. The name stuck to the sock and to nothing else, which is how family names usually work.

It was thick ribbed cotton, ankle height, and it was worn almost exclusively indoors. Kitchen, hallway, and the stretch of cold floor between the bath and the bedroom. Outside was for shoes. Bootsy was for after.

It had a partner, of course, but the partner never got a name. The child explained that one Bootsy was enough, and that the other one was "the other one."

It answered to its name. "Where's Bootsy?" was asked most mornings, and the answer was usually under the sofa, where the child had put it to see if anyone would ask.

In August 2025 the family's washing machine broke, and a week of laundry went to the laundromat on a Sunday afternoon. Bootsy went with it. Bootsy did not come home. The family now regards this as an avoidable risk, and the washing machine has been told.

Succession

Its partner is now also called Bootsy. The child, who is nine, says this is how it works with kings.