Gene Laroy Leonard passed away at some point this week....alone. When Gene could not reach him for their weekly phonecall this afternoon, he called his brother, Justin, to go check on him. Justin was at work, but he sent his fiance, Chelsea, to go see if he was okay. She found his lifeless body, and I'll leave it at that. We have no way of knowing what day he passed. Justin had been by to bring him groceries on Sunday, and that was the last contact anyone had with him that we are aware of. He left this world alone, and I can only pray that Jesus was there to take his weary hand in his last moments.
Gene was not a sweetheart, but he had his own way of loving us all. Most of you know that he battled cancer for the past six or seven years of his life. He endured radiation, chemotherapy, and a grueling surgery. The doctors had no idea how he survived all of that, but anyone who knows him can tell you it was because he was just "pretty damn stubborn." The cancer was stubborn, too, and it came back in his lungs and his skin. He had it removed, but chose to not go through any further treatment. He survived liver failure just over a year ago. He spent the past months in pain. Recently, his sight was even failing him, so much so, that he was no longer able to drive safely. The last of his joys....stolen from him.
Gene loved riding his motorcycle. After surviving his first round with cancer, he added a trike kit to his Honda Valkerie because he was too weak to ride it the other way. I remember the day he got on it and the way his face lit up at the prospect of getting to go on another big ride. He never got that chance, but he did manage to ride it around Big Spring when the temperature was warm enough.
Gene loved to come visit us. He loved to sit on the backporch and watch the deer move about. He had a special relationship with Kaylee that I never imagined he would have. He would tell you the same stories...over and over again. I would always make him something he enjoyed to eat like fried porkchops and mashed potatoes! He didn't have any teeth because the cancer took his jawbone, so food was not always easy to enjoy for him. I'd get a good three or four pounds on him during his stays, though!
When I met Gene, he was a crane operator. He would tell you everything you wanted to know and even more that you didn't about cranes! One of the first things he ever said to me was, "Man, your a big girl, aren't you?!!" So sweet...I know! That was him. He drank and smoked...well...until the cancer took that from him, too. I liked the friendlier sober Gene, but I longed for that guy that I met just years earlier that would run around in a pancho hitting on all the young ladies! He took me on my first trip across the border. I drank margaritas with him in Acuna at Crosby's, and yes, even went with him up "the hill" to get my first "boystown" experience. I still remember when our taxi pulled up, we got out and the bouncers greeted Gene by name along with big smiles and handshakes. This was the man I would call my father-in-law, someday! When my Gene graduated from Texas A&M, his dad was the one that partied too much and nearly got hauled off to jail because of an open container in the vehicle. He streaked in bars, he bought his whiskey by the box and smoked his cigarettes by the carton. He was a 21 year old in a 50 something year old body! He was crazy...
Gene Laroy Leonard was born to Dixie and Leroy Leonard. He took dance as a child. He raced dirtbikes in his youth. He took drugs. He hung out with Willie Nelson's brother. If it was dangerous, he was up for it! He married his high school sweetheart, Linda, and they had his first child...his daughter, Sonya. They later divorced, and he married again, to a woman named Dixie. Dixie wasn't sweet like his mother, though, and they divorced. Then, they remarried. Then....they divorced again. It must not have been a nice one, either, because she was driving her vehicle up to his work to run him over, so he took his crane and dropped a beam or something on her truck. Don't worry...he didn't kill Dixie. Cancer took her before he had the chance. He, later, ran into a waitress in town named Juanita. She was married at the time, but it's my understanding that her husband wasn't very nice to her. Gene told her that he'd take care of her, so she divorced, and Gene and Juanita got married. Together, they had two boys. My Gene was the oldest, and Justin came along a few years later. This marriage didn't make it either, though, and they divorced after many years of marriage. Gene and his first born had a very close relationship. Justin's relationship with him was more complicated, but I think...or at least hope...that it had mended itself in the last couple of years. I can't speak for Gene's relationship with his daughter. I can say that he told me on more occasions than I can count that he loved all of his kids. He told me this past year that he knew he had messed up in the past, and if he knew how to fix it, he would have. He figured it was too late, though.
My Gene and his dad had a special bond. My Gene told me that it was partially because he had to take care of his dad at such a young age. I saw this, myself, when I first met Gene. His dad would get so drunk he couldn't stand, so Gene would get him home and help him to bed. One of the hardest parts of their relationship was when my Gene left to go to Texas A&M. This meant that his boy, the one he depended on for everything, wouldn't be there anymore. He was jealous of me when we started dating because I took even more attention away from him. In a lot of ways, he was like a little kid. Once I showed him that I loved him, too, and I wasn't going anywhere, our relationship got much better. Still, I know that he missed riding motorcycles down to Del Rio with is son. The last ride they took together down there was in 2003. Still, he had the memories and stories to tell about all of the wild times they had together throughout the years. George Strait has a song called "Cowboys Like Us."
"...Cowboys like us sure do have fun, racing the wind, chasing the sun, take the long way around, back to square one, today we'll be outlaws out on the run, There'll be no regrets, no worries and such, Cowboys like us..."
The first time I heard it, it made me picture the two of them riding their "steal horses" to Mexico. It's a nice memory!
Gene left behind two living ex-wives, Linda and Juanita. I think both of them still loved him in some way, as I know he loved them. He left behind three children, Sonya, Gene and Justin. He left behind six grandchildren: Brandon, Sumer, Brittneigh, Kaylee, Bryson and Khynlyn. He left behind greatgrandchildren: Braeden, Braxton and Madeline. He never had the chance to meet Madeline or Bryson, but I hope those who did get to meet him can remember enough good things to tell them about him someday. I told Kaylee that she needs to try to remember every good thing she can remember about her Papa Gene to tell Bryson all about him when he gets older. We'll save the juicy stuff for a later date!
I don't think it's fully hit me that he is not here with us anymore. I hope God found a special place in heaven for him, though, because even if he didn't live a very clean life and probably did a lot of things to earn him a spot in a much warmer place, I believe that the good man that I got to know these past few years was always there. I pray he had a chance to ask for God's grace in his final moments. I pray that he is at peace and no longer in pain. The cancer took so much away from him, and that was punishment enough. Please, God, accept him into your loving arms. Please forgive him so that we all get the chance to see him again someday when our time comes.
So, that's it, in a nutshell. I can't stop shedding tears for this man that I once couldn't stand to be around. He grabbed a big ol' piece of my heart while I got to know him, though, and that part is aching now. I'm going to do my best to remember him...the good and the bad...and when I picture him in my mind, I will see him on a bright, shiny red honda motorcycle, headed off into the sunset... This is where the cowboy rides away.
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