Leeboy is the name most of his friends called our son Lee, who passed away at age 36. Leeboy was gifted in many ways, including as an athlete, writer, communicator, musician, and a friend. But perhaps he was most gifted in his ability to see the world differently than most. He was exposed early in his life to many people of different races, cultures, religions, and perspectives. The last we counted, we gave shelter in our home to fifteen different people at different times for various reasons while Lee was growing up
Lee learned to accept and appreciate people of different colors, cultures, and perspectives. In fact, Leeboy ran with curiosity toward “different people,” those most of us would shy away from. If you stood out in a crowd because you were a little different looking, or if you just appeared uncomfortable or awkward, Leeboy found you and made friends with you. Leeboy didn’t like being around groups who looked and thought alike. He thought everyone who was a bit different was valuable and had something valuable to offer. What others saw as different, he saw as unique.
Leeboy developed into a natural “Pied Piper” who everyone wanted to be around and follow. He was counter-cultural and tried to get everyone to see differences as uniqueness. He looked for ways to be different in a welcoming, sometimes stretching sort of way, which often made him stand out. But one way in particular is that he often wore mismatched shoes. He believed that mismatched shoes could actually be a very cool match. And they became one of his trademark fashions
He believed that about people too! People who you wouldn’t think would go well together often make the best matches. We are all people with unique differences, and Leeboy believed that we all should spend more time celebrating our differences rather than trying to get others to be more like us.
We want to celebrate and continue his trademark fashion of wearing mismatched shoes with the purpose of inspiring people to see how different or mismatched shoes and people can actually be a perfect match!
Lee loved his Inkka Shoes, which are unique and actually go quite well together even when they are mismatched. We will name each pair of mismatched Leeboy shoes after a person that inspired him to understand and appreciate the best part of life.
One pair is shown below as an example, but they are not available to purchase yet.
Check back soon!
Leeboy and Gracie made a perfect match!
The name Amari’ has African origins and means “strength“
Named after Leeboy’s son, these shoes remind us of how strong Lee was to battle 20 years of chronic pain with a degenerative spine.
Put these on when you need to feel strong!
