Arizona postal worker gives shoes to barefoot elderly woman while checking her mail

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A postal worker's kind gesture went a long way for an elderly woman on his route as she was walking barefoot on the hot pavement.

It was a hot day in the Valley and the woman had to walk to the mailbox to get her mail. Postal worker Matt Traynor said he didn't hesitate to take his shoes off and give them to the woman. 

For more than two years, Traynor has delivered mail to a neighborhood in Scottsdale. The same route and the same friendly faces.

Like clockwork, he saw a woman go to the mailbox expecting a letter, but this time it was different.

"She's always waiting for a letter from her daughter. This particular day I go over and look down and she has no shoes on. She forgot her shoes," Traynor said.

Without hesitation, he took off his shoes and gave them to the woman to wear.

"I said, 'By the time I'm done delivering the mail, you'll be back at the house and I'll stop by and get them from you.' So I stopped by and met her at her garage and got them back," he said.

Traynor says the woman has dementia.

He hopes that if his grandma or grandpa was in that situation that someone would do the same for them.

"She was very thankful. I didn't want her burning her feet. We were nearing summer temperatures already. It was hot and she felt comfortable in the shoes, she thought they were nice and comfy," Traynor said.

He's going to remind her every day, he says, "Don't forget your shoes this time."