02/23/2026
Whenever I look at Alex, I see every road, trail, stream, and valley molded into his smile, his sparkling, occasionally unnerving, white walker eyes, bending and curving within every wiggly eyebrow raise. Sometimes I touch his little smile lines and say, “This makes me so happy because I get to see how much you’ve smiled and laughed.” Last night we talked about how I got to be there when he turned 30, and now I’m here while he’s turning 40. I can’t believe how much has changed since then, and how much Alex has grown as a human being. But I haven’t seen him change into this entirely different person - only a truer version of himself.
One of my favorite parts about being Alex’s life partner is getting to witness someone who instinctively and empathetically understands humans and their emotions on a whole other level. I can ask him any question, make any statement, where I immediately follow up with, “This probably sounds dumb” or “I should know this, but what does this mean?” And he simply says, “That’s not dumb, I’ll show you” or “I’ll help you with this” or casually, “That’s okay. It means - “ without ever making me feel silly or belittled.
I think that’s why people feel so comfortable approaching him and easily gravitate towards him. They know he has an extremely rare quality in this world we live in, and it’s magnetic. He’s not trying to prove anything to this world, but offer it compassion and understanding instead. I genuinely believe the world is a better, more uplifting place with him in it.
I guess it’s safe to assume that I’m very glad he was born. 💛
