Bill Gordon walked into my life on May 1, 2007 and he was miserable.

At 71 years old he had suffered a stroke and had sought me out to “work on his fitness”. Honestly I took one look at him and thought... hmm what the heck am I going to do with this guy? He didn’t talk much other than grunting and didn’t really know how to take me or my positive attitude. Our journey together started with lots of walks, loooong walks just to get him moving. His body was hurting from being stationary and physical activity was a distant memory. I remember chatting away while Bill was huffing and puffing trying to keep up with me, when he suddenly remarked “why the heck are you talking to me, I can barely catch my breath to respond!”. I chuckled and told him that if he could answer me it meant there was still breath in his lungs and that was a good thing. The goal was to actually be able to carry on a conversation during these walks, which we eventually did.  This was the beginning of our friendship. We started with basic exercises in the studio, learning to squat, and working on balance and of course Bill got his lesson in how to eat for health, weight loss, healing and longevity. He lost the physical weight but the most amazing thing happened. As Bill regained his health he began to sparkle. No longer would he show up grumbling under his breath but instead I was greeted with a smile that would light up the room. I began to look forward to seeing him for all his appointments instead of dreading what I was going to fill his hour with. His Dr. was amazed with Bills results. His blood pressure returned to normal and he was able to come off his water tablets and his HDL went up while his LDL went down. Bills transformation was nothing short of extraordinary and he delighted in bringing me his medical reports. He was so proud that his hard work and dedication to his fitness had paid off.

Bill followed me through four studio moves, watched my kids grow, gave me a shoulder and perspective as my marriage came to an end, coached me on dating (10 years up and 10 years down was his approved range), coached me in business, watched me fall in love, lease and transform a new studio and recently expand my family. I watched him negotiate his business and form a partnership with Steve and I also saw the joy he had in going to the office every day. I listened to stories of his grandkids and set him up on a blind date with Heather (another BUC alumni) and couldn`t have been happier seeing the friendship develop between the two of them. Bill finally had a partner to share time eating out and someone to enjoy life with him outside the office. Bill embraced life, refused to slow down (although he did admit to enjoying his 4 day work week when he did decide to cut back) and wanted nothing to do with anything that didn’t enhance his day or his life. He always reminded me of our anniversary of meeting and the start of his fitness journey and treated me to a dinner or lunch. He often joked that we would have made quite the couple had he fit into the dating age spread. Everyone was touched by Bill and he took it upon himself to work with all the beautiful ladies in the BUC studio. He enjoyed learning pilates from Crystal, worked some nagging injuries with Andrea, kept pace with Tia and always looked forward to time with Mimi.

November of 2011 Bill noticed his breathing wasn’t great and was struggling to catch his breath during our workouts. Tests done in December showed Bill had stage 4 lung cancer. February 9th, 2012 his bright sprit was extinguished. Bill, thank you for teaching me that age is not a boundary for fitness and to not put limits on capabilities regardless of age. I never treated him like he was old and he went beyond my wildest expectations. I will miss him and for all the BUC clients who had the pleasure of meeting Bill you already know what a huge loss this is to the BUC family.

Bill's story should remind us all that it is never to late to get fit and to find happiness.  He fought for his life,  did the work and made the changes to prolong it.  He lived his final years with spirit and joy for everything he did and brought the same to everyone he met.  When his cancer was diagnoised the Dr.s were surprised that it had progressed so far along without him noticing. I imagine his level of fitness meant his body was able to stay stronger while the disease progressed silently. 

Rest in peace Bill .... but make sure you still pick up the skipping rope from time to time. You will always be loved and will never be forgotten.

"Fitness and nutrition are often taken for granted or ignored altogether by many of us. The consequences are overweight with potential health problems and growing disinterest in family, work and friends. We become sluggish overweight couch potatoes leading us down the road to depression. If you need to get happy, fit and fully alive to take on and enjoy all the things you want to do and meet all the people you want to get to know – see Lisa so she can get you started and keep you on track. I am today at the end of 20 weeks in a program to save my life. You see I am recovering from a mini stroke and had to do something with my 210 pound out of shape body - 160 to 170 pounds of weight in a fit body was what I needed. I am now at 179 pounds and well on my way to fitness and as an added benefit without high blood pressure medication." - Bill Gordon age 72

-L