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 I thought I'd share a bit more about Alden. He was so much more than most people knew. 

Alden loved Dole whip. When I took him to Hawaii he fell in love with 2 food items - the tacos at Surfin Tacos and Dole whip. 

When we came back he made it his mission to make his own. He found out that trusty amazon sold a mix to home make it. So one day he texts me to say he bought an icecream machine and the Dole whip mix. He was so excited. Because it was amazon and he lived in Seattle, he got it the next day. When it arrived he texted me to tell me the good news and to inform me what we were having for dessert that night. 

What he didn't tell me was that he also invited one of the people that worked for him over for dessert as well. 

He knew she loved icecream. And so he invited her over so he could share this treat that he loved so much. It was so funny. The first time I met her was when she came over that night just to have Dole whip with us. Random, but that was the kind of guy Alden was. 

Alden also didn't like to decorate. The first time I went to his apartment I noticed the lack of any sort of decorations...let alone the toels and bedding were all monotone. I teased him about it. He said he did it on purpose. He didn't want to like being there, as a sort of motivation for escaping to his cabin in Morton. But I got him to put up 1 piece of art - a black and white painting he did of Bowser (from Mario brothers). 

It's funny to me, because he really just didn't decorate any space that he ever wanted to spend much time in. He did the same in our home in Buckley. His office was bare. I got him to decorate his desk a rad, but that's it. And yet...yet when we got married and I moved into his life...I decorated. A lot. I love to decorate. And he told me he loved it. He loved how I made things feel "homey". 

Alden loved tanks. His dream was to own one. He imagined having it in Morton and driving it to the local grocery store. He imagined climbing out to go shopping and him waiting in the lot, a big smile on his face because he knew no one would or could door ding him. Before he bought me our house I had told him he could have a tank...if I got a house. So when the house was ours he was sure I gave my go ahead for him to get a tank. Haha. He had a large canvas painting of a tank commissioned a long time ago. An old logo from some old site. I mean...very large...that his mean wife was never fond of so it never really saw the light of day...but now I have it up in our garage. Alden, you now have a tank in the garage. I wish I had thought of doing that ages ago. It makes me smile whenever I pull in now...because it was your dream, and I like to think that when I put it up you smiled. 

Alden was that guy...the one who's laugh you can almost hear when you see a photo of him. Who always had a story to tell or a way to connect with you on a personal level. He knew people. He knew my different laughs when I didn't even know I had more than one. He had the kindest eyes that just twinkled when he was going to do or say something funny. He was a punk, but never in a bad way. He worked in his last job for less than a year and made such an impact...made so many connections...influenced so many people...that the amount of coworkers who came to his funeral wow'd me. Everyone just wanted to know him...because he was so easy to like. 

Sometimes I would hear him work, hear the voice he used and his professional demeanor and just think- wow, they only get a peace of him. A small part of what makes him...him. and yet they seem to know what a good guy he is. How lucky am I that I get the rest of him? I know his tender side and his teasing side. His goof and his serious. It's no wonder I love that man. 

He was my other half. In so many ways. 

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