Alexander Heying

He's quite old.

And he misses his farm.

And he misses me.

Well, the other month I was home for Christmas.

My parents and I went and visited him in the hospice.

And his memory came and went throughout the evening.

But in those moments of forgetfulness, his thoughts were completely unfiltered.

And in those moments, without even knowing who was in the room next to him,

He talked about how proud he was of my mom, how great of a worker she had been, and how he wished that she would come around more often to visit.

And he talked about me, how proud he was of me, and how great of a young man he thought I had become.

And I could see it in his eyes, this kind of love unfiltered by circumstance or expectation.

This kind of love that, I mean, I realize now had always been there, even when it hurt.

And you know, the next time I'm home, I'm going to look around and I'm going to try to find Football Mickey.

Thank you.