I'm sure most of you who follow me and viewed my story this past Monday now know of the sad passing of Bob Bonham, the founder of my home gym of the last four years, the legendary @strongandshapely. It was 2016 when I was introduced to @boninierik, who PASSIONATELY (that doesn't even describe it adequately!) told me about this magical, hardcore gym just 10 minutes down the road from where I was living at the time, that had EVERYTHING you could ever need to fulfill your fitness goals. Upon finally exploring it a year later, all I could do was ask myself what the hell took me so long. It was months later that I finally met the man himself. I'd heard so much about him that I was a little star struck, I must admit. There's a lot that's been said about him, his accomplishments and his gym etiquette over the last several days, some of it is a bit redundant, so I'm going a different route. It was upon my third to last encounter with Bob in the fall of 2019 when, out of nowhere, I started talking about the then-recent passing of my brother. He just stood and listened as I spilled my guts out. "I'm so sorry, thank you for sharing that with me" he said with this empathetic look on his face. That meant a lot to me at the time and it does now more than ever, because for all the stories I'd heard, this was a very different side of him. So Bob, I'd like to thank you, not just for this incredible gym and environment that you put whole your life into, but for your compassion. Thank YOU for listening. RIP Bob Bonham 1951-2021 #mikealexnadercpt #unitedinstrength #strongandshapelygym #bobbonham #ripbobbonham #eastrutherford #bergencountypersonaltrainer #eastrutherfordpersonaltrainer #hardcoregyms #badassgyms #rerackyourweights #1984 #bodybuilding #powerlifting #disneylandofgyms (at Strong And Shapely) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvX5uxl7AL/?utm_medium=tumblr
