I Finally Got My First Jordans at 40 — Here’s Why They Still Matter

This is not just about sneakers, but it’s also about time, dreams, and rediscovery.

Photo by Ryan Plomp on Unsplash

I was born in the 80s, just several years before Michael Jordan made his NBA debut.

Like many kids in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I was surrounded by Jordan fever. Posters. VHS tapes. NBA cards. Highlight reels of tongue-out dunks.

And the shoes.

The shoes.

There was something mythical about them. Every kid in school wanted a pair of Air Jordans. The red and black leather, the way they squeaked on polished courts, the way they felt — it was like magic.

But I never had them.

They were too expensive and out of reach. Jordans were for the rich kids or the star players. I was neither. I admired them from afar, learning to accept that they weren’t for me.

So I moved on — or so I thought.

The Gift I Didn’t Expect

Fast forward nearly four decades. I’m 40.

I have a career. A family. A different set of dreams.

And one day, my brother-in-law hands me a box. Inside? A pair of Air Jordans.