My hometown, Berwyn, and neighboring communities, Oak Park, Forest Park, LaGrange Park, etc. have lots of smaller mom and pop shops, coffee stores, and all the more which tend to thrive on this specific day. This year I made the decision to journey to the south side of Chicago, in the Pilsen neighborhood. Don't worry, this area was not decided by random chance. This was a deliberate decision to visit a very close family friend, who owns a shoe store with much success over the last 40 years.

The last time I visited the store was right around my 22nd birthday (6 years ago)! And after timeless chances of failing to make the trip, what a time more fitting than to support a Chicagoland small business. To my biggest surprise, the trek down to Pilsen was smooth as butter on bread – with practically zero traffic. I parked and made my way across the street to find the very great yellow awning with the store's name dead center, Burdeen's Shoes.

The store didn't have any customers in it, but a few workers in the back chatting, and I was immediately greeted to a very happy, smiling, and recognizable face, one of my best friends' fathers, Frank. We shook hands, greeted each other, and began to catch up and converse on a variety of topics, while I was incredibly impressed by not just the presentation of the shoes, but the variety and selection. There was ZERO question I would leave this store with a purchase - it was happening.

I do have many pairs of shoes, but you can't ever have enough Nike classics, such as the Jordan Retros. In fact, the shoes I wore that day, were the last pair I purchased at Burdeen's, a Chicago Bulls/Blackhawks-themed red, white, and black style mid-top. From this, you can probably assume I have a set form of colors I prefer in shoes, red white and black. The options for today's visit were heavy and plentiful, to the point where I remember saying "I'm just trying to decide what I want to try on!"