Alexander

Today would be 19 years since Alex died so suddenly in a car crash. There is nothing new to say about that, but I wanted to talk a little about some memories of him.

 

I remember how much he loved pizza. He was a wiry dude, but tried to live on the stuff. So much like his dad in his own youth, who could eat anything (constantly) and it would just burn off. Wish my body would do that!

One night I was actually able to bribe him with pizza to get the scoop about a young lady. Of course, he made it deliverable immediately but then spilled his heart out to mom. He was about 16 at the time, and I remember this conversation vividly.


Alex had a big crush on Mariah Carey and loved her singing. We even played one of her songs at his funeral. He also just loved music and could sing along with anything. His voice was not great (just like me), but he didn’t care. He was trying to learn how to play the guitar and would jam with his friends. That was an interesting sound. J

 

Alex was family oriented. He loved his little brother and was fiercely protective. That is not to say that they never had sibling rivalry, but it wasn’t a big thing. I remember they were wrestling in the hallway and Morgan was already bigger than Alex. Alex came away with a black eye, and we told him if he was going to mess with the grizzly he was going to have wounds. He died with remnants of that black eye, but it is a sweet memory because they were not fighting, just rough-housing.

 

Our boys were very close, and we know they would have been friends were Alex still here. That is a great sadness to not witness this bond into later years.

 

He was a loyal friend, family young man, and very, very funny, with a dry humor that could double you over. He was gentle, kind, loving, and we still miss him.

 

One would think that 19 years would lessen the pain. Certainly the pain of his absence is not all encompassing, as it once was, but my heart still yearns to hold my first born.  This pain never leaves, but I have learned to live with it and not dwell in it.

 

*Alex with black eye*

 

Those who knew Alex will never forget him. Those who didn’t know him personally have come to know him through our stories and memories. May his memory linger as a gentle soul who left us too soon.

Snoring

This is my first entry in the New Year, and I cannot believe it is 2013. Those are numbers right out of science fiction. However, that is the only thing reminiscent of sci-fi stories. For instance, they have not conquered snoring for we average folk. I am surrounded by it.

 

Poor me; I have been listening to John snore for 41 years. It is so bad that at one point he woke up an entire camp ground! It has been like this since he was 17 years old. Now, it doesn’t particularly bother him. Isn’t that just so precious!?/%...He gets a wonderful nights’ sleep. Of course, he occasionally wakes up a little sore in the ribs and cannot figure out why.

 

Then, as many of you know, we adopted a baby French Bulldog. She is now almost 5-years-old and guess what? SHE SNORES. She snores big time. People cannot believe that something so small can sound like that.

 

So when we go to bed at night there is a cacophony of sound unlike anything most people hear. Truffle sleeps next to John and they snore in an offset pattern. It is so cute unless I am trying to sleep. I resorted to ear plugs years ago, but often they are not enough to tamp the sound to a sleeping level. Therefore, I am driven from the room. I sleep everywhere else around the house; moving from bed to chair to bed and then in the deep of night back into my bedroom where their snores are muffled.

 

As I finally and luxuriously stretch out in my bed and fall asleep, I am awoken by a horrible sound. It was me and I woke myself up snoring. Say it isn’t so!!!!! I have turned into one of them and now we are a trio.