Sometimes an unusual story starts quite simply: for example on a football pitch in the seventies somewhere in the Netherlands. Two little boys, both seven years of age, full of energy and keenness for the game – and later on for each other as well. That’s how our friendship began, and since then it’s taken us through half a century of adventure, twists and turns and common passions.

We, Luc and Leon, didn’t just share the ball back then, but also our lives. We went to the same primary school, although afterwards to different secondary schools – but football kept us together. We stood together on the pitch for over 20 years with a group of friends that to this day still exists.

But sport wasn’t our only shared hobby, because when we were about 12 years old we discovered something else that connects us right up to today: music! Or to put it more precisely, reggae. Bob Marley and Dutch bands gave us a taste for it, and although back then there was no such thing as streaming or YouTube we found ways to bring our favourite sounds to life. We earned our first money picking fruit, at the same fruit grower of course, and that meant we could afford to buy records and cassettes. Today it gives us a smile to think that one of us cherishes his 600-piece record collection while the other has long since switched over to digital formats.

Our love of music has taken us to a lot of festivals, especially the Summer Jam in Germany, and we still sit in front of our tents with a cold beer in our hands and enjoy life. Okay, camping doesn’t feel quite as relaxed nowadays as it did when we were 25, but the memories we collect along the way make up for everything.

What else connects us? We’ve been working for the same employer since 1998. One of us found his way into the company via the other one’s wife, and the other joined the company because of a staff party to which he accompanied this very woman. The fact that we now work in different areas – Luc in accounting and Leon in mechanical maintenance – doesn’t hinder our friendship in any way, in fact quite the opposite: there’s something special about sharing not only life but also your workplace with an old friend.

Our friendship is anchored in our families, our children know each other well and holidays each year in a holiday home in Belgium have become a solid tradition. Of course, the instruments we bought many years ago (an acoustic guitar and drums) are also part and parcel of our stories – after all, music is a common denominator in our lives.

In the end, one thing has to be said: our friendship is more than just a connection between two people. It’s an attitude to life that’s been with us for 50 years. It’s also constantly writing new chapters: from the first round of football, to music, right up to WEPA. The best thing is that we go along this path together, just like when it all began on the football pitch many years ago.