Lessons from Leon

When I was at pre-school I met a boy called Leon.  We became best friends, inseparable. And when it was time to go to “the big school” we went together.  I spent my entire weekends at Leon’s place.  He lived far away from me, a good 30 kilometres, but I was a good cyclist, and always found an excuse to visit.  Leon’s mother was a single mother overflowing with kindness, and she was a great cook too.  My childhood memories are riddled with images of Leon and I playing superman, batman, wonder woman.  You name any super hero and we’ve done it.  And pancakes.  Lots of pancakes.

Slowly Leon and I moved towards our teenage years.  We cribbed homework, played pranks and still played super hero’s.  We became aware of the fact we were “different”. Awareness of boy and girl was growing, and one day I asked Leon:  what is different about you?  Leon, being the smarter of the two, had already figured this out, and said:  I’m not telling!  Wow, that was the wrong answer.  I remember shoving Leon into a corner of our school, and pulling his pants down.  Because surely any difference has to be down there! Yeah, I was right, the difference was right there.  Shock shock horror.

We turned 14.  My parents decided to emigrate to South Africa.  Leon laughed, said that in the future I will be married to a black man and have brown kids.  But will I stay in touch?  Of course.

Time went by.  Internet had not been invented yet, Bill Gates was still finishing school himself.  Leon and I wrote letters, but as time went by the letters became less.  And less. Eventually it dried up all together, and Leon and I continued our separate lives.  I missed him terribly, but mail was slow and my parents were always moving house.  When internet did make an appearance I searched for Leon but never found him.

Many years went by, and I eventually saved enough money to return to my hometown.  I went for a bicycle ride with my aunt, and with a shock realised the area I was in:  I cycled right past Leon’s house!  I stopped, told my aunt about Leon, pointing at his old house.  Oh dear, my aunt said, that was your friend?  Yes, I said, do you know him?  Yes, she said, everyone knew him….. turns out he gained a lot of weight and had a heart attack.  He died. His mother, sweet soul that she always was, found him.  And was so upset that she too died of a heart attack right beside Leon.  The town talked about it for years.

Did this influence my decision to start Basic Orange?  Deep down I believe it does, I still miss him today.  And we would have been 48 now…. It taught me at an early age that being overweight can kill you.  Does kill you.

So if someone says to you being overweight can kill you, and you laugh it off thinking that will never happen to you, well my friend think again.  Because your clogged arteries and excessive body fat can kill you any time, any day, no exceptions.  Just ask Leon.