Alex knew from the age of 16 he had met the love of his life, however it took a little while for him to finally win my heart. In sixth form we spent 12 hours a week in art class together with 4 other people so I got plenty of time to know Alex. We would spend our free time together in the common room or working on art. There were plenty of jokes made in the classroom as every day was fun with Alex and was never afraid to be laughed at. He knew how to wind me up with school playground flirting tactics. One time he wanted to use my scissors and was annoying me so much about it that I ended up throwing them across the table at him. Even during our final art exam we were bickering across the table even though we weren't meant to talk. We were always good friends and enjoyed flirting and joking around with each other. There were special moments we shared when we spent time doing a project during free periods and Alex helped me to build a bomb shelter out of wood pallets. Although we spent more time hiding in it to escape the world and shared our secrets with each other. Alex later told me that it was in that little shelter that he knew I was the one. He went on to tell Wardy "I'm going to marry that girl" after spending time with me on my own. Everyone always said we should get together because they saw the sparks flying between us. Deep down I did want to see if our friendship would turn into something more but I regrettably held back. On the night of our friends gig at the Halfway House in Heckmondwike we became a little more than just friends when we shared our first kiss on the steps outside. He could still remember exactly what I was wearing that night years ago. Alex was very good at arranging night outs as he loved being around his friends and enjoyed loud music. I would always enjoy dancing with him as he could dance until the sun came up, to look at nobody would have known he had cystic fibrosis. He would be at every house party and nothing stopped him from being the centre of the party as he was so fun and lovable. Alex knew how to live life to the full and was determined to get everyone else involved too. He would get me and Natalie to straighten his hair before a night out as it was so thick and curly, I think we burnt his ears a few times. He loved to be in photos and would photobomb in as many as possible pulling funny faces. On our school ski trip in France we spent a lot of time together in a big group of friends from sixth form. The coach trip was a long journey which we spent getting excited to see the piste. We all sneaked alcohol into the boys' room and drank and played card games every night then faced the mountains the next day. That was until the teachers came and raided the room and found the stash or beers and spirits, they gave our beers to the coach drivers. After 2 great years at sixth form we went our separate ways, I went to college and Alex joined a mini club. We occasionally kept in touch and went out for drinks but weren't as close as we previously were. Every time we did see each other we would always catch up from where we left off but just always remained friends even though Alex always wanted it to be more than that. The problem was that I never knew what I wanted and didn't want to hurt Alex in the process so tried to distance myself a little bit. I invited Natalie, one of our friends to my 21st birthday but she said she couldn't come because she was pregnant with twins. I didn't believe her and she told me to ask Alex as he was the first person to find out and he claimed himself to be Godfather before they were born. When they were born Alex and I treat the boys, Alfie and Oliver, as if they were our nephews. He loved them so much and would always want to go see them even if he wasn't feeling too well. We got back in contact when I was on holiday Alex text me and we just didn't stop texting all week. I invited myself to his house in Whitby and drove over to see him. We went out just the two of us to Whitby Abbey and spent the day in the sun. I was a little worried the climb up the stairs may have been too much for Alex but he was fine, I think I was just as breathless as he was. Since then we texted and rang each other constantly. Our friendship grew and a relationship slowly started to blossom. We would travel to see each other often and really enjoyed each other's company. Alex took me in his kit car for a fast drive and we went to Sands end. Alex chose me a little stone from the beach, he told me I had to keep it and bring it next time I came across to see him. So I chose him a stone, we both kept them. I have kept mine next to my bedside ever since. We said that we would choose another stone for each other every time we went to that beach. The first time I went to see Alex in hospital he met me in York and we spent the day looking in shops, I bought some Angel cards and we tried them out in the hospital. I used the Angel cards often to ask what I should do about whether I should be in a relationship, I drew the exact same card every time I asked that question which said I would be in a happy relationship. For a few months we carried on like this, saying we were just friends but knowing deep down that it was turning into a relationship. I was putting off making it official because I had to be sure it was what I really wanted. I knew that once I was to be with him then that would be it forever and didn't want to ever let him down. We went on holiday together to Alex's dad, Simon's villa in Spain and we had a lovely week. It was like we were in a relationship, we watched TV on a night cuddled on the sofa, we held hands walking to the shops and split the bills equally. We bickered like an old married couple but it made me realise that we were good together. On the plane back home we held each other on the back seats and shared Alex's ear phones listening to music. That was the first time I realised I loved him. I told him I was falling for him and he said he was falling in love too. When we got home and Alex went back to his house I missed him and couldn't imagine life without him. I told our friend Natalie that I wanted to be in a relationship with Alex and she spoke to him about it. She said he felt the same so I finally asked him if he wanted to be my boyfriend. We were both so happy. I went to see Alex that weekend and since then we never spent a week apart. We would both drive up and down between Scarborough and Leeds every week to spend time together. Once I felt too tired to drive over to Scarborough after a long day at work so Alex came all the way over to pick me up and take me to his house because he had IVs so needed to stay at home that weekend. We had to work around hospital appointments in York and IV antibiotics as he had to stay at home when he was on them. We were rock solid, and very much in love. Every day we rang and text each other and not a day went by without being in touch. We went on dates and did everything a normal couple would do, every moment was treasured by both of us. Alex got his second mini which he bought from Ste, his best friend. He loved buying parts for it and trying to fix it up. Then I got a Camden Mini Cooper S which he loved to race as it has a BOOST button. He drove it back from the dealer and raced my mum on the way home. He drove my car for pleasure and I drove it for work, which I didn't mind too much. Alex then decided it would be a good idea to set up our own private mini club with another couple, Rich and Corrina. He was excited to make a sticker for our cars 'Three Minis and a Bini MOC'. He suggested to them they should get married at IMM (International Mini Meet) as it was to celebrate 50 years of mini and held in the UK this year. They thought it was a brilliant idea and get it arranged. Alex drove all the way to Kent in my mini as his wasn't ready in time. He bought a CB radio so we could keep in contact with Corrina for the convoy down but it didn't work very well. We wanted to get in touch with Rich in his car so would drive along next to him telling him to pull over at the next services and had a conversation whilst blocking off the dual carriageway. We set up our tents in a sectioned off area so the wedding party would all be together. Unfortunately this old Dutch couple were camping next to my car which was our source of power to charge our phones. He ended up having an argument with this man because apparently our car was too loud and was blowing fumes around his tent. It took Alex hours to tell this story to everyone when we got home because the irony was that we were at a car show and mine was one of the newest, probably quietest and more environmentally friendly than any other car there. Last year we went on holiday to Ayia Napa and Alex had a lot of attention from girls on our first night out. A girl came up to Alex and tried to kiss him, I don't think I moved so fast. I grabbed his face and pulled it towards me, before he even knew what was going on, his glasses nearly fell off. The holiday rep saw what happened and he told the club what had happened and said he had respect for the happy couple and everyone cheered for us. We hired out a buggy for a few days so we went to the beach as it was too far to walk. We did parasailing together and went on a jet ski, Alex drove it into military waters so they had to cut it off to stop us getting lost. We were looking for a house to buy or rent and I got mortgage advice. I had dreams of being a childminder and Alex wanted to be the cook and chauffer. We realised we wouldn't be able to afford a nice house that was big enough to do childminding in so my mum, Jo, said she would buy us a house that all of us could live in. My dad, Ash said we could buy our old family house from him as it was on the market. We immediately got to work on the house and stripped it down and replastered and put an ensuite in. Alex was very much involved with decision making and we chose the kitchen, paint and sofas. Alex was determined to get a workshop fitted in the garage using the old kitchen units and a 'man cave' for the back garden to escape from me when I was doing his head in. We moved in December but Alex got pneumonia so spent a lot of time in hospital and didn't get to really enjoy the house. He managed to get out of hospital for a few days over Christmas. It was then when he realised he wanted to make me his wife. He asked my mum and dad's approval for my hand in marriage and went shopping and bought an engagement ring that day with Ste. Alex wanted a British bull dog as they are a dog with breathing difficulties, so similar to Alex. I put my foot down and we compromised on a labrador. We went to dogs trust but couldn't find a lab puppy and it was too heartbreaking to go back again. After Christmas we looked online to try find lab puppies, we found a litter born on Christmas day and immediately contacted them and went straight over to view them, we had the first pick of 9 puppies. Alex fell in love with the lightest coloured female puppy and wanted to call her Lola from the start. He would not settle for any other puppy as his mind was made up so we put a deposit on her. We visited Lola every other week so she could get used to us. We planned to get Lola as a joint birthday present for each other and would be ready to come home on my birthday. Alex planned on making my 24th birthday special as he knew that I never had good birthdays. This is when he planned to propose to me. He invited all our friends to a party at our house. I wasn't too bothered about celebrating and just wanted to get Lola so unknowingly I made a few obstacles he had to overcome. He made a slideshow of photos showing 'Our story' and how we got together, with our song playing in the background. Sonnentanz (Sun don't shine) I had no idea what was coming next. After the photos he got down on one knee and pulled out a little red box from his pocket with a big shiny diamond in the middle. Without any hesitation I said YES! He told me it said FOREVER inside and had a small diamond on the inside. It was the happiest I have ever seen Alex, his face was beaming with delight. We planned on getting married this summer and having an outdoors wedding. We were going to hire big tents and have live bands playing all day. We wanted burger vans rather than a sit down meal and minis as our wedding cars, it wasn't going to be formal. We just wanted to be married and to have a really good day with friends and family. I was excited to show him what ideas I found online and he always said he was happy as long as I was happy, but I tried to make it as much about him as I could. We knew we would have to compromise our beach wedding or Las Vegas Drive through wedding which we used to joke about due to his illness but I wasn't bothered as long as I was Mrs Turner. We have never known how long we would have together so spent every minute we could together. Every day since we were together I told him I loved him and he always said "not as much as I love you" I told him how beautiful he was and he would say "not as beautiful as you". Alex knew he was well loved and would be loved FOREVER.