Vera's definition of living large could at best be described as largely distorted and deficient. Having grown up in a family where lack was the only way of life, she never had the slightest chance to a good life, much less good feeding.
The picture of her growing years was something she so hated to recollect, and anytime she did choose to talk about it, she often said that the "hand to mouth" lifestyle used to describe the poor didn't even apply to her own family. "The hand is still reasonably close to the mouth - we lived from leg to mouth," she would say in a way that was most amusing.
Shortly after she completed her secondary education, which in itself was like a camel going through the eye of a needle, she combed the whole town for a job because she knew that there was no hope of furthering her education.
Just when she was about giving up on the whole job search, a bottled water company offered her the job of a sales representative.
This turn of events was soon to change the course of her life completely.
Knowing how much it took her to get the job and the thought of returning to her life of lack if she ever was relieved, she ensured that she gave her best at work and soon became the favourite of her employer, colleagues and many customers.
One fateful day, a young man walked up to her sales point. Intrigued by her customer relations and efficiency, he started a conversation with her. What began as a sales attendant-client discussion soon blossomed into a blissful relationship and before long, Vera was married to Vincent Shaw, son of a business tycoon and multi-billionaire.
A one time struggling lady suddenly landed in much affluence! And Vera saw that as an opportunity to "enjoy" all that she had been robbed of as a child and teenager. She made sure she wore the most expensive clothes and jewelries. She made friends with the high and migthy in the society. But the most outrageous part of her "large living" was her feeding habit.
She had nothing less than four heavy meals a day, she considered water tasteless so she seldom took it and substituted it for other liquids which she gulped down in their litres. She was a regular at fast foods since she didn't have so much time to prepare her own meals and her cook's meals never tasted good enough for her. The same sumptuous feeding she had was what she gave her children .
By her definition, she was enjoying life to the fullest, not until she started having one health problem after another. Until it was diagnosed that her blood sugar level was too high for a woman her age and that her shortness of breath was a result of too much cholesterol in her system. Her children also soon became regular visitors at the hospital.
A once vibrant and healthy young woman soon became obese. A woman who once believed that she lived to eat soon learnt the hard way that she actually had to eat to live.
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