I’ll never forget my first pair of Nike Shox. I was a senior in high school, obsessed with shoes and the color pink. Aren’t all 17 and 18 year olds? Who am I kidding? I’m older and still am that way. I guess it’s a girl thing. They were silver and pink. I thought they were the most beautiful shoes I had ever laid eyes on. Of course I wouldn’t be working out in them, I would wear them to school and to hang out with friends, and basically anything that would keep them clean and looking as new as possible. That definitely ruled out working out in them. When I got my second pair I didn’t think of them as a replacement pair, I viewed it as adding to the collection. Kind of like when mom or dad brings home a new sibling, they love all the kids the same, there are just more now. I had a job and In high school didn’t have too many other bills and the shoes kept piling up. I had shox in silver and pink, baby blue and white, red and silver, hot pink and white and blue and silver. That’s a lot of shox. Eventually I realized my bank account couldn’t keep up with my shoe fetish. And, I realized I needed to break them in the gym rather than walking around the mall with friends. I gave two pairs to my younger sister, her eyes lit up like it was Christmas Day. I kept all the others and still wear them, six years later. For whatever reason, I still wear my original silver and pink ones. The traction is gone, the pink of the “shock” is now tarnished and turning brown from the dirt and dust that has spawned itself over the years. When is it time to throw the towel in? I have new shoes. Shoes so fancy I can put a sensor in them and my iPod and my shoes conversate and keep track of my progress. But there is something about my first pair shox that I can’t seem to let go. 2009 is the year. The year I won’t be afraid of change. I will embrace it. It’s getting to be that time of year when I pull out spring and summer clothes and donate what I don’t like anymore, or can’t fit into. This year, in the donation box will be a pair of shox. Hopefully someone else will be able to enjoy them as much as I did.

-Meagan Stratton