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Remembering Memories of Alexander Nels Lindholm – by family and friendsFrom his dadHe liked Power Rangers as a boy – and later Transformers. He loved the big Transformer toy he got for Christmas one year.We would wrestle almost every day when he was little. I never won .I would pretend like I was a tiger and growl at him (and my other two children) and stalk them on all fours…then pounce! They would all shriek in delight.We must have gone to Runnings 1000 times for bolts for various projects.We watched Alex, Adrienne and Luke from the house as they walked to school every day.He never wanted to take naps as a small child. I would say “lets just lay down together for a minute – then, lets just close our eyes for 5 seconds”. He was usually sleeping by then.He turned the heat up on the aquarium – because he loved knobs and switches – and slowly killed the fish. I could not figure out why the fish were dying until it was too late.When upset he would say “oh, snap”.He bought new headers and “purple hornies” (header mufflers) for his jeep. When the mufflers arrived he didn’t like the purple color and insisted on painting them black – knowing that both the purple and the black would burn off in a short time anyhow. After the headers rusted off he bought a new set and new purple hornies. The mufflers are so loud though be bought baffles to put in the headers to quiet it down. I thought that was a sign of growing up.He took Adriennes motorcycle on several rides. On the first one he only used the first three gears because he thought it was like the jeep – with a three speed transmission. He was surprised to find out he had “six gears”.Adrienne, Luke and Alex were dressed up as the Addams family one Halloween. Alex was Cousin It. He wore two wigs one on backwards with hair over his face. We used bobby pins to keep the hair out of his eyes enough so he could see. They were a hit. The wigs got Alex pretty hot though.He was three or four and we went to a street dance in Ft. Pierre. I was talking to a friend and Alex was holding onto my fingers – he was hopping off the curb – around me to hop up the curb, around back of me to hop off the curb again. My friend said “does he ever stop?” I said no – not really.From AdrienneHe loved his honeycombs – the honey was so good.He does not like cake.He noticed how much I am like our mother – especially when deconstructing food.Playing “worms” on the computer downstairs. When shot the worm exclaimed “oh Nooo!”Playing Carmen Sandiego on the DOS computer.Sending him random and odd assortment of gifts.My “Avatar” boots. I got these yarn boots for Christmas from Alex. I wore them all the time…I still do. Jason started calling them my Avatar boots.He and Luke got me a salt block candle holder. It’s beautiful. And it’s salt.Whitecastle in St. Cloud.CathyAlex was always a caring and gentle young man. From the time he was born I knew he would leave a positive mark on the world. He had a great sense of humor, even when he was sad. He would try to make others feel better with his humor. I will always remember working on cars with him. We did things the same way, we got “inventive” when needed.He would help me with anything I needed him to. The only thing he would allow me to pay him with was homemade lasagna and indian tacos. We had several dinners together. Alex was truly the most gently kindest person I have ever known. It saddens me deeply that he is gone. The only way I am able to deal with this loss is this: I believe the hall of souls was starting to get low. In order for the world not to come to an end, the Hall of Souls must be full. God had to choose the person with the kindest, most gentle soul in order to replenish the Hall of Souls. That person was Alex. So, in my mind, our Alex saved the world.From his DadThe computer games he made and gave to his friends when he was in grade school.Making special t-shirts for events with his friends.Roller blades – how high he could fly – learning tricks. The skate park in vegas – renting a helmet so he didn’t get hurt.The goal at the Bantam State Tournament in Rapid City – a slow arcing shot from the blue line – it bounced in.In junior high some of his friends didn’t bathe much – I called them his stinky little friends.Me taking him to pre-school (Lutheran Memorial) in the jeep – he told me every day that the jeep was going to be his.Me telling him at the drag strip to do a better burnout.His first race in the AMX – how wobbly his knees were when he got out of the car.His expression when a guy offered to let him drive his real race car – the car promptly broke and Alex never got a chance to drive it.Alex helping me hook up stereo/tv stuff.Calling anytime with minor computer questions.How polite and patient he was when fixing peoples computers (a little side job) he would listen to the whole story – when he could have got it done a lot faster by just booting up the computer.Talking at length about his plans for the Rebel.Giving him a hard time about fueling injecting the old cars – and him giving me a hard time about carbs and both laughing.Him doing a good job welding with a 110v stick welder – a machine I could never get to work for me.Alex driving the Jeep when he was 5 or 6 sitting on my lap. Going into the ditch (steer, Alex, steer!) then up out of the ditch over the road into the other ditch (steer!!). All at 1 mph – first gear low range at idle.Hunting pheasants with me when he was little – I ended up carrying him back on my shoulders because he was tired. He walked a long ways on those little legs.Working on the jeep. The box of broken tools we called the Hall of Shame.We moved that heavy metal desk of his three flights of stairs in St. Cloud. I received a big bruise on my arm from it bashing me into the wall.I bought and installed him a shower curtain and towels for the second bathroom in St. Cloud without him knowing. He didn’t notice until quite a while after we left.Alex as a little boy playing on that first computer with his legs swinging back and forth while sitting on the chair – he was so excited about it.Alex spray painting “Happy Birthday Luke” on the kitchen wall.I remember how Alex grew a beard so he would look older for work.How happy he was working at Aston – Blue Cross.Alex winning a Wally – then taking it places with him. He wanted to win a second one to keep the first once company – but never got that done.How proud he was of the BMW – and that it was a manual transmission – he had no interest in one with an automatic.How un-fashion conscious he was.As a high school student how many oatmeal cream pies he ate.His movies. He took German in high school and they took a summer trip to Germany. He really wanted to go, but I didn’t have the money. I wish I had found it somewhere.Alex at the first hockey camp we went to in St. Paul – how hard they worked the kids.Alex and Luke in their bunk beds. Alex had the top bunk.Alex as a little kid packed all his toys in his little suitcase when we went to Rapid.His had a sleeping bag for trips to grandma’s house.Working on ideas like performance rockers for 4.0 jeep motors.Alex’s potato vodka – smelled a lot like rotten potatoes. He used a pressure cooker to distill the fermented potatoes.Alex and college freshman English – didn’t go well.Going to parent teacher conferences – he pretty much excelled at what he liked and was not interested in doing anything else – “it’s stupid” he would tell me.I remember taking him to see his first girlfriend in Ft. Pierre.Buying him his tools. How careful he was to make sure his tools all go put back into the tool box.Buying him a propane heater in St. Cloud so he could work on his eagle.How much he loved that eagle – he got it for free – the school resource officer made that happen.The gateway monitor in the back of the jeep when we moved him to Rapid for college. It looked funny because the jeep didn’t have the top on.Driving the jeep back from Rapid after finally getting the V8 in. He was going 80 – we had planned stopping in wall – I asked if he needed gas – he said yes – he was about out. He used a tank of gas in 50 miles – jeep was running 4500 rpm – I told him we needed to back it off a bit.Waking up in Wyoming while driving to Vegas for Christmas – Alex was driving the Pontiac – 100 mph.Alex and I playing craps at Hooters in Vegas – and taking the class from Jimmy at New York New York – he remembered the rules much better than I did.Keith gave him a bicycle – we took it apart and painted it metallic green – his favorite color.He had the “perfect” hockey stick – he was real proud of it – a kid stepped on the blade and broke it in a hockey game.He broke his wrist in a hockey game in Brainerd – very first shift. It was very broken; he ended up having pins in it. We drove back to Pierre the next day. I saw him leave the ice, but just thought it might be an equipment issue – he called me from the locker room while I was in the stands. When I went into the locker room he showed me his wrist – “do you think it’s broken?” he asked – “Oh, yeah” I replied. He broke his arm/elbow crashing his bike.He hit his head on the corner of a table holding a fish tank – it bled like crazy and we took him to the ER for stiches.He played JV hockey – Rob should have had him on varsity.Alex played hockey to have fun – and he did.A bully was harassing him as he walked home from school. This had happened before with this kid. When Alex got home the bully was on top of retaining wall yelling for him to come out. Instead Alex let Shep – our Anatolian – out. Shep knocked the kid off the wall by running into him. The kid ran away and Shep went back into the house.He had to do a lot of in school suspension – mostly for being late – he seemed to like it better than going to class.He liked to use the term “going on an adventure”.I taught him how to lift weights and we lifted together at the Y one summer. From Abby:The news about Alex jolted my world. He and I met when I was in 8th grade and he was in 7th, at a Boys and Girls Club dance. I got to dance with him and immediately fell for him. That whole year I just always wanted to be around him, as you can imagine that he became my best (and sometimes only) friend gave me comfort and joy. He was funny and fun loving and sweet, smart and handsome.He and I would have lunch every day together and he and I would walk home together every day (I lived only a few blocks away on Capitol Ave), and we’d often strap on our rollerblades and head to the skate park together, where he would do impressive tricks, while I just tried to keep my on my feet while landing the half-pipe (and secretly trying to impress him, of course)!I remember one day when he fell at the skate park and wounded his leg badly; he limp-skated home with blood all over, and I tried my best to escort him. He was always like that; he always just kept going.I remember another day when one of my classmates followed us as we walked home and threw rocks at me. Alex walked behind me, I think trying to protect me. A rock hit him in the back of the head, and I saw the tears well up in his eyes from the pain, and I wanted badly to hold him close.When I got to the 9th grade and especially after I moved th CO, our contact got less frequent, and now guilt overtakes me, because I’m not sure that Alex knew how much he meant to me in these later years. We’d talk occasionally on Facebook – a comment or email here or there, but now I wish I had done more.I never had a negative interaction with Alex. He always made me smile and protected me. Even just a few months ago on Facebook, a friend of mine told me she felt sorry for me because I don’t have kids, and Alex saw it and jumped in and made her look like a fool. I laughed and thanked him in a private message.I thought I might share my memories with you and let you know that even 500 miles away, hearts are breaking and tears fall in every moment of silence when thoughts gravitate towards your wonderful son/brother.Please give him all my love, and know that even though you and I are practical strangers, you are in my thoughts and prayers at this time. I will never forget Alex.From his Dad:He contracted Mono as a Senior in High School – it took him a long time to get better – he slept a lot.He took all the computer classes in High School – mostly they had him take the tests and fix the schools system during class time. Mr. Gill said he was the best computer student he ever had.Alex took welding – he was a much better welder than me. He welded in the frame mounts for the roll cage in the jeep with a 110v stick welder.He liked grape soda. I would buy him fancy and unusual grape soda when I saw it.When he was in confirmation he hated it – he thought it was stupid – it was so hard to get him to go we finally gave up and he didn’t have to go anymore.When he was little (probably two or three) Adrienne was in the bathroom and he wanted to get in and Adrienne didn’t want him in there and had the door locked. He ran into the door at full speed several times trying to get it to open – he ended up sitting by the door crying. He really like Halloween costumes as a kid – and would play in them for months afterwards.He loved being a DJ at events and had all the equipment. Bryce and Alex put on a show at their graduation party at the Legion.I remember Alex with his hair full of old car grease and oil.I think he was heartbroken when Brittney and later Jessica broke up with him. How proud he was of both Luke and Adrienne. I could hear it in his voice when he talked about them.How he woke up and come out of his room – hair all messed up and a little stumbly.“Absolutely” – he said it all the time.How much he played and liked “creatures” as a kid. This was a little PC video game. He thought it was funny that if you gave them beer they had babies.He had an electronic pet in grade school. You had to pay attention to it or it died. He was very upset when his died.He took a remote control car apart and was going to make a robot out of the parts. I made him reassemble it. I don’t think he ever played with it again.He wanted an FM transmitter. He assured me it was legal and that he had looked it up. I had my doubts but was reassured by his insistence it was legal. These came either assembled or unassembled. He chose unassembled which would have been fine but it came missing parts. We never got that one working so then bought an assembled one. I helped him make the antenna – he put the whole business (another Alex saying) in his eagle and would broadcast while driving around – because of course the operation of an fm transmitter is completely illegal without a license. My first clue should have been that the transmitter came from Czechoslovakia.He bought a pallet of old school computers at the school auction in Rapid City. He spent all summer reconfiguring them and wiring them together to make a cluster server. He set up our home computer system with the router and wireless.He was playing a jet fighter game on and old PC we had downstairs and was having so much fun – after he went to bed I thought I would give it a try – I crashed the jet six or seven times in a very short period.He was so proud he won a “nook” in an online contest. The guy who gave the nook away was looking for someone with some computer skills to work for him. Alex worked for the guy for a couple of years helping him with his on line business.We wanted him to go with us to a hockey tournament that Luke was playing in. He didn’t want to go and wanted to stay home. We insisted that he come along. While we were gone his computer at home crashed so he could not log on remotely. He had a friend break into the house – Alex told him how – and restart his computer. When we got home there were some minor items missing – Alex then confessed what happened.From Ross N: 12/6/13Well it’s cold out; so I think I will share a warmer memory. Somehow we had the idea that we should test how hot the “HOT” wax was in an automatic carwash. So the most ridiculous adventure started to unfold. Alex went and bought a carwash ticket at Chekkers. Then Alex, Dan, Ben and I sat in the open top jeep waiting to go through. We all had swimming goggles on and no shirts. Alex punched in the numbers, and then pulled into the stall. We didn’t know what to expect. If it was too hot we were going to bail out and run to the corners of the stall. Well it turns out that the hot was more of a slightly warmer than body temp. Let me say we were NOT amused by the false antics of Chekkers “HOT” wax. But lord did we get some funny looks from other people. Someday I hope we can meet up again and go on another adventure, until then comrade, keep the rubber side down. From his dad.He liked Turkish coffee.He was joking over 4th of July 2013 about his Calvin Klein working on cars jeans. They were much too long so he didn’t care if they got dirty.He sent Vanoosheh flowers for her birthday 2013.He thought touch screens on phones were dumb – he wanted “real” buttons.When Alex got here for the 4th (2013) a pickup was revving it’s engine outside – he left for a little while then returned – he had to go show the guy how a real car ran.Alex helped me take some junk to the dump (july 2013) – we laughed so hard at the guy who unhooked his trailer to weigh it because he drove off the scale past the “please stop here“ sign.He ran a 10k when he was still in high school. I thought he should run the 5k because he didn’t run much. He made it in pretty good time but was really tired and sore at the end.He would drive the jeep in the winter with no top – all bundled up. He went through a lot of stereos because they would get wet.The craps dealers at Hooters in Vegas asked me if my son was with me – even though they had not seen him (or me) for over a year.He asked Vanoosheh to help him move a Gateway Destination monitor he got from the school. He talked her into helping even though she was in her PJ’s. She told him it was too heavy and she couldn’t do it – but again he talked her into it – they then got it moved into the house.He bought some servers at an auction and sold them for big money on ebay.Luke made a comment under his breath. Vanoosheh asked him “What did you say?” Alex translated – “he likes cheese”.Alex worked for one summer as a mechanic at Sioux Auto Electric. Scott said he did good work.Alex had a t-shirt that read: “Silence is golden, duct tape is silver”.He like to make garlic mashed potatoes for others.He drove his Rebel home for Christmas from St. Cloud – 2012 – the heater was not working so he wore his coveralls the whole way. He ran out of gas in Blunt – so I had to rescue him.Alex was not religious.He hated English class.Alex bought Vanoosheh cow udder mugs from Pier 1 Imports because she thought they were so ugly. He thought that was soooo funny. From Luke:I grew up sharing a bunk bed with Alex. Every night I made him tell me a story because I was afraid of the dark. Sometimes he even told a story with shadow puppets on the wall.When we were in elementary school 3 to 5 was the most exciting part of the day:We had sword fights with dads metal yard sticks. We recently talked about it, neither one of us knew they were actually for precise measurements.For a long time our favorite thing to do was pack ourselves in a vacuum box with sleeping bags surrounding us. The only thing unprotected was our heads. So we thought we should wear a helmet. We put a long wood plank on the stairs to the basement with the box on top of the stairs. Then one of us would push the other down the stairs. We did this until we couldn’t fit into the box, even when the box was shot.We always played video games together. My youngest memory is playing Doom on one of the old computers, might have been the IBM. I thought I was playing but really Alex was playing and he let me press the spacebar to open doors when he got to them.I just gave him a fancy mouse on the 4th so he could play games with me.He figured out how to pirate games on Dreamcast so we didn’t have to pay for them.He was so impressed when I gave him a flashed xbox so he could play pirated games again. He didn’t have much time to play though.He wanted me to work with him so badly. He told me the needed an intern and that I already know more than everyone there.I helped him one night at Ellsworth AFB (illegally). He really enjoyed coaching me.Countless memories driving drunks in Minneapolis. He always felt bad when he messed up directions to someone’s house. They would get upset. I always felt like I had to protect him because he was too nice to people. I drank my only beer with him during that job. Shiner Ruby Red; some guy tipped us in cases of beer.He was so proud when “I decided to be smart”. I said I had always been smart. He told me “ well, it just seems like you’re more interested now”. That was in the fall (2012). It was then we started to bond intellectually, not just physically. Now when I would ask him questions he would give me real answers.Everything I did was to impress him.When we were in bunk beds we’d tell jokes and laugh and play games. Until we heard someone coming, we’d quick switch the light off and act like we were asleep.He always answered my calls with “hello brother”. From his dadWe drank beer at Nine Fine Irishmen in Vegas until early one morning. Both his Eagle and Rebel had saggy headliners – drove me crazy, I couldn’t stand the fabric touching my head. It didn’t bother Alex though. I made a brace with duct tape and yard sticks to hold it up – he told me it would never work – I thought I had proved that it did until we drove around a bit and the brace got pushed out by the headliner.He really liked the old school toggle switches in the Eagle.I bought him new tires for the Eagle, a year later he slid into a curb and ruined two of the tires and wheels. He bought some Ranger wheels and used tires. His first big purchase in Fargo was new tires for the Eagle. He was pretty proud. The car still has the Ranger wheels.When he was little he liked to show us his break dancing moves.He likes electronic music – Trance? – But when being a DJ he played what people liked to hear. He could distinguish between types of electronic music – which all sounded the same to me – but I would kid him about it – making up names like “thrash death Metal Trance”.He slept on the top bunk.When he was little we let him put stickers all over his dresser. For a while he had a black light for the overhead light in his room. He put glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. He put his toys in the dresser.Alex brought Vanoosheh kuchen when he came home the last time because he knew how much she liked it.He worked at SDDOT one summer for the research office installing weather/camera towers. He had a great time and people in Research asked me all the time how he was doing and what he was doing.The track prep crew at Oahe Speedway used a new traction compound that didn’t work so well. Alex went across the centerline of the track backwards – you could see the marks for years. Vanoosheh missed it and he didn’t want her to tell her, but a guy I knew from high school was at the track and told her.He kept all his best timeslips from the track – we still have them.I went to a sushi place in Fargo with him – the first time was with him and his coworkers – the second time was with him and Luke – I had a roll the first time, with Luke we all had “the small boat”.He has a pomegranate plant named Plant. He planted it from seed.His Eagle was always packed full of ..well..stuff.He installed a big chrome tubular jeep bumper on the Eagle.He liked JL Beers – a burger place in Fargo – he liked all the food but thought an egg on a burger was the best. From Adrienne:Some kid at school was picking on Luke when he was in about 1st grade. We really wanted to find the kid and do the same to him.He crossed his eyes all the time during photos when he was little.He called the internet “the series of tubes”. There is a video which captures a congressman referring to the internet as a series of tubes.He liked to burn incense.He did not like my cucumber, sprouts, cream cheese and egg sandwiches. “Rabbit food”.He washed car parts in the dishwasher.He made movies. I loved them even though he was critical of them. He mixed the music for them and put Luke in them.I used to skate with Alex and Luke to the skate park. They were fearless and talented. Alex got me to drop in once and I was ok, just like he said I would be.Instead I took pictures of him – he was a very good roller blader.He like Guinness – “Vitamin G”.He made moonshine/vodka out of potatoes. He made a still out of a pressure cooker. The smell was intense! He kept them in 3 orange or grape crush glass pop bottles on the window sill in the apt kitchen window. From Jason MWhen I first started dating Adrienne and met Alex, he called Adrienne (she had gone back to Pierre for the weekend) and asked her to call me to see if I wanted to come over and hang out with him and Ross. I did and we smoked cigars on the apartment porch (Ross’s was huge!) then started a batch of wine.He joked he was going to get Bruce a subscription to “oatmeal Enthusiast” magazine.“Bother Bear”I always used to great him with “Ahoy brother” and he would respond “Ahoy!”.He was so proud of the “Kleenex holder” in the Rebel. I told him he should replace the car phone in the BMW with a tissue holder as well.Adrienne and I visited Alex in St. Cloud and were headed to a Mexican restaurant he liked. We had the windows down (August) and some guys pulled up next to us while we were driving down the street. The guy shouted “love your 67 Rebel!” Alex responded “it’s a 68” the guy kept looking at him and you could tell he wanted to keep talking about the car but Alex was offended and kept looking straight ahead. He later explained the guy should have known better because the taillights are obviously different.Shane:Alex passed his knowledge on to anyone who would listen. I stayed with him and Adrienne in their apartment for a few days, in that time span Alex taught me how to fix brakes on the Rebel and when we finished he built me a new computer from scratch while teaching me every step of the way. He brought joy to any room and was always a role model to me. Alex will be greatly missed and always loved.Travis A:Believe it or not, Alex even played a role in the lives of Lucas’s best friends. How? He was a teacher to Lucas and Lucas was his student. And in a ripple effect way, most of Lucas’s knowledge would be passed down to us. Time after time, there would be instances of “my brother said this is the way we should do it.” “Alex told me that this was the best out there”. Almost as if Alex was this all knowing man that was passing his wise ways down to us kids. Using Lucas as a medium, we kids learned a great respect for him and I think his brother appreciated that. Alex was an incredible influence to Lucas, and Lucas to us, and in that way we felt that there was even the slightest connection. The best that I (we) can do as Lucas’s best friend is to be half the brother Alex was to my dear friend. I am a firm believer that God have a plan for us here on Earth, that this situation, although grim, sad, and heart-breaking, will serve as a connecting point for Alex’s loved ones. This passing will foster new relationships with others, while strengthening existing ones. In light of this happening, I feel that I myself have been absorbed into the Lindholm family as a resource for my best buddy Luke, as well as a shoulder for Bruce and Vanoosheh. With great hurt comes great healing, and with time, love and Patience Alex’s passing will become a blessing to his family and he he will forever have his watchful eye and hand on his loving family. With best regards and God Speed in your healing, thank you Lindholms. Travis From his Dad.He got his jeep stuck in a muddy ditch. Buried. Him and his buddies tried to pull it out with their dad’s pickup – got that stuck too. While trying to pull it out the looped the chain around both down bars on the roll. That was a mistake! The chain pulled the tubes together and pulled the bolts through the body. I eventually went to help them with my yellow jeep. First I pulled the pickup out, then I tried to get Alex out. Even though they had been digging for a long time I couldn’t get him out. They dug for a while more, and then we put the pickup in a drier spot and hooked up my jeep to the pickup, and Alex’s jeep to the pickup. With both of us pulling we got him out. Alex never got upset with getting stuck – in fact he seemed to view it as an exciting challenge.He called late one night – he and his buddies had taken the Eagle 4 wheeling. It had started to rain and they were stuck. I said I would come to help – and wanted to know where he was. He was at the ORV area, but said he would walk to the entrance, because I wouldn’t be able to find them. I did find him near the entrance – after a bit of driving around we found the Eagle – it was in the bottom of this valley. I drove part way down, but by then it was raining so hard I didn’t think even the jeep would make it up the hill – much less the Eagle with street tires. I sent Alex down to remove whatever was valuable in the Eagle – his tools mostly – and we all jammed back into the jeep. It was raining so hard we could barely see and it took a while to find our way out – it’s real dark out there. We nearly slid off the road into a little dam – but managed to finally get out. Alex helped me clean the jeep the next day – what a mess – mud everywhere – inside and out. Two days later after it dried up we went to get the Eagle and couldn’t find it! It took about an hour of driving around until we spotted it. Drove it right out. He crashed the Eagle into the deck of a friend’s house. He was trying to get it to start and had decided maybe the neutral safety switch was the problem. It wasn’t – the car started and hit the deck – messing up the passenger side fender. The collision didn’t seem to hurt the deck.He put a chrome jeep tubular bumper on the Eagle. He painted his BMW valve covers in his bathtub in Fargo. He had some overspray too – left black paint on the tub.He washed car parts in the dishwasher.He liked to make wine. Bryce bought him a little oak barrel to age the wine in. He loved, loved computers. He knew more than almost everyone about them – his area of expertise was network systems. He was working on the network system of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota while in Fargo.He liked to keep things – parts for things. He had a lot of different kinds of wires and wire ends.He was certified to terminate wire ends for networking. He was so proud of his work tool kit he got while working for Viper Telecom.While at Viper they fired the whole crew – except for Alex. He said he had an advantage in that he had not pissed off the boss. That job for Viper was at Ellsworth AFB.Once the EAFB job was completed they kept him on and he went to other bases around the country. He got to fly home often enough he became pretty experienced at air travel. His boss at Viper encouraged him to continue on with college.I remember teaching him to ride his first bike in front of our house.I remember watching Alex and Adrienne walking to Washington School from the corner of our yard.He got hit in the jeep by a car – we had just fixed then when he ran into another 4x4 at the top of a hill at the ORV area. The jeep was in pretty tough shape. He still wanted to fix it – bent frame and all. The jeep had dents in the dash from his knees.He thought black was the only proper color for a car. Keith told him – “there are other colors” – Alex said “not for my cars”.He told me he had a “proper” English breakfast at the Denver Airport while working for Viper.He loved his Ninja shoes – they had a spot for the big toe then for the rest of the toes – sort of like a mitten for the feet. They had soft soles and were mid calf fabric black shoes. He wore them probably more places than he should have.He had dreadlocks when he was 15. Vanoosheh helped him put them in. I learned about dread wax and dread shampoo. He was a hairy little kid.His beard grew in very dark black.He and Adrienne and Luke bought us a fire pit for Christmas – but Alex was the one that thought we really needed one. He was really proud of it – it helped me figure out how to put it on the deck by using pavers.I bought him a “STFU University” t-shirt for Christmas not knowing what it meant. He thought that was so funny.He wore a “no I will not fix your computer” t-shirt a lot.He would wrap Christmas presents in aluminum foil.Alex gave me a “Goats in Trees” calendar for Christmas 2012.He liked smoking hooka. He showed me tongs he bought at Axman. He loved Axman.He bought Martin and I cigars when we were in Vegas. We bought him a wakeboard – he liked it but he couldn’t fly into the air because we didn’t have a tower on the boat.He bought his tux from ebay – Bill Blass.He loved his motorcycle jacket.One of his girlfriends was Jen Beiser.A couple of his good friends from high school were Dan Negabauer and Bryce Siedschlaw.In grade school sometimes he would take a test – get all the questions on one side right – and forget to do the back page.He took an IQ test in grade school so he could participate in Project Discovery. The person that administered the test said that he got questions right that no one ever did.He bought bulk tea in Fargo.A pretty girl sold him “Dead Sea Salt scrub” at a mall.He loved bacon. I bought him bacon toothpaste for Christmas one year as a gag gift. He ran out of regular toothpaste so he used it. He said it was not very good.He really like sushi and hooka lounges.He played defense in hockey. He was right handed but shot left.He was the one that got us started in hockey. He was so insistent that he wanted to play, but we didn’t have a rink then. When they built one the next year he started. The first rink was in the horse barn at Stanly Co fairgrounds.If he got a penalty and thought he actually did it – he would nod “yes” when the ref made the call.He liked the big clear face shield on his hockey helmet.Alex was #15 Capitals Hockey.Alex came home from Rapid in the jeep. An axle seal (rear) went out in the jeep. He called me and I drove out to get him – he was maybe 20 miles east of Pierre on Highway 14. We figured out the Jeep was not drivable so moved all his stuff into the Grand Prix. On the way back I hit a deer.Another time he was coming back for Christmas – he was a student at Tech – there was a storm coming, but he left late and so the roads were terrible. He was following or traveling with a friend – it took them so long to get to Wall by then 14 and the interstate were closed so they had to sleep in the city auditorium. He thought it was fine though –no big deal.His bed room in Rapid when he lived with Adrienne was always hot because of all the heat generated by the computer equipment.He lived in a hotel for months when he first moved to Fargo – Staybridge I believe.He liked different kinds of beer and gin martinis.His kitchen table always had various little computer and car bits on it.He had an air mattress for us to use when visiting in St. Cloud or Fargo.He liked to shave with a straight razor.He had this huge metal desk – he loved it because he could fit all his computer equipment on it.His phone message had one of his cars in the background (the Rebel I think) in the background.He had street signs all over his apartment – and a dry erase board with directions to various rooms.From Adrienne.We would draw pictures describing the movie or show he had burned onto a DVD. He was an artist. We laughed every time he made one.At Christmas Bama would buy Jason a gift card from . Because I always forgot to print out the gift card summary, I would ask Alex to make one. He drew the Backcountry logo (a mountain goat) in Alex style every year.He would sometimes get a dry spot on the middle part of his upper lip.He made excellent Turkish coffee.He was very particular about his shoes. He liked old school black short top sneakers.We called our living room at Pointe West “the conversation pit” because we had 3 couches and a papasan chair.Television rules the nation while four – wheeling.He loved his binary code blanket.He hated Mac products (“The Fruits”) and Internet Explorer. Cooking tomatoes on the vine in the frying pan and making omelets.When he smiled he would sometimes put his tongue right behind his top teeth.When we were little, we loved to all “camp out” in each other’s rooms. We would get our sleeping bags and camp on the floor next to one another.He made pineapple wine at my little red house when he lived in the dorm at tech. It turned out excellent, one of my favorite brews.When he was living at tech I would go have dinner with him and his friends every week or two at the tech cafeteria.I was always so proud to introduce him as my brother. I remember feeling this when he came to my house for an ugly sweater party.We loved going boating. I never did figure out how to wakeboard despite his good coaching and advice, but he picked it up very quickly and had a blast.I remember boating one day and Luke had his shirt in his hand. He proceeded to spin it above his head and threw it overboard, exclaiming “Yippee!!”. Alex laughed, his one and only Alex laugh for a long time. We still bring it up.I love brother bear hugs. His hugs always engulfed you and were gentle, but made you feel safe.His laugh – so unique, from the belly and heart. He had the same laugh when we were just little – he was a toddler.I ate his chocolate that he had been saving. My grandma had brought it from Holland. He was not happy with me for several years about that.Taylor KMissing you brother! Hope everything is good. Working hard to get them Jeeps finished! Watch out for me and give me strength and ambition to finish them and have some fun in a couple weeks. I can't wait! I'm sure you already know they are gonna be badass!!! hahaI heard your song the other day! Still remembering what used to be. I Wish all the time for just one more day! It’s been so long since we last spoke. I suppose having you in my heart while you're away is just the same Anyways... I suppose I better get on with the day. Lots of work to do. I love you man! Talk to you soon! Forever Your Brother!From Bryce:Found the shirt from graduation that all the friends signed along with a nice surprise.From Adrienne:For Alex: Among many other things, you taught me to be brave so that's what I'm trying to do. I can't describe in words how much I miss you. From Lisa B: Cheers to all of you and so many other great friendships that were formed around Alexander Nels Lindholm. You mean the world to me.Many memories from summer nights with our friends around this fire...but this time last year this was the place my family was gathered as we received the worst phone call I could possibly imagine. Daily life has never been the same but we will still build fires in your honor and make the most of our time. you always — with Alexander Nels Lindholm.Abby W:One year today. Miss you, Alexander Nels Lindholm. Wish we could've had one more skate together.Brittnie S:A year ago today we lost an amazing man! It seems like just yesterday I got the phone call from my brother with the heartbreaking news! He was not just a class mate, or a friend he was family!! He was my brother's best friend! We miss you like crazy Alexander! Please continue to watch over us all and keep us safe! Love and miss you Turbo!Tiffany I:I miss you, Alexander Lindholm.Nora:Cathy G:Alex..one year...12 months...it seems like yesterday that I got the call from Mom. There had been a horrible accident; Alex is no longer with us she said. It just couldn't be true I cried! Sadly, it was. I called your Dad, I was sobbing, telling him how sorry I was, wanting to know what I could do, then in this small voice that sounded a million miles away, he said " I haven't called Adrienne yet". My heart broke all over again.I have done the "what if's" over and over. What if we had gotten to Pierre the day before? What if I had texted you? What if...just what if.I regret that we never got to have another lasagna dinner together. I regret that we never got to buy more tools together. I regret that we never got to work on cars together again. I regret that I never went to see you in ND. I regret that we never got to smoke clove cigarettes again. I regret that you will not see Lilly grow up.I am happy that we got to "liberate" tools together. I am happy that we got to work on cars together, I loved that we invented ways to get stubborn worn out parts off. I am happy that you helped Chaperon one of Ashley's birthday parties. I am happy that you DJ'd Ashley's 16th birthday with Bryce. I am happy that we painted the sheds out at the ranch. I am happy that we spent so much time together in Vegas visiting. (I will cherish that trip forever).Today is a hard day for all of us. We talk about you all the time. Thank you for looking out for us. I believe your Dad is the glue that holds the 5 of us together. You were the glue that held the 8 of you together.I miss you and I love you!!! Be happy Alexander Nels Lindholm!!Amber F:One year ago today I received a call I never thought I'd get. When I first heard about how you were found I thought they found you in time, you were just in the hospital with some serious injuries but then I was told no, you were gone. All I could do is cry. Over the past year the family has gotten together and I still expect you to be there, for this to all be a bad dream. I miss your laugh, your smile, you being there when you were needed, I miss our random conversations and our drinking nights. You were more than my cousin and will always be in my heart. We all love and miss you!Lisa B:Great one with my Dad and Dan, 6 years ago at my brother's weddingmy favorite boys — with Alexander Nels Lindholm and Dan Neugebauer.Katie V:You talked to me in my dream today and gave me a piece of time believing that you were still alive and that everything was ok. Thanks for giving me a taste of that happiness.Lisa B:We hired a new girl at work... her name is Alex.... & she's prettier than youAlso, I'm getting kinda good at trying to make new friends. Or rather, letting new people get to know me and not being so awkward about it. I know you'd be proud of all of the happy hours I attend with coworkers nowadays. Gotta keep building that army of supportive people that are willing to drink in celebration of each other's accomplishments! (HOORAY BEER)Racing:By CHUCK CLEMENT | 0 commentsAlex Lindholm of Pierre earned runner-up honors drag racing his father’s AMX sports car at the Summit Racing Series Division 3 ET Finals held Sept. 16-18 in Brainerd, Minn. This summer provided Lindholm with his first opportunity to race competitively, and he has earned the top points ranking in the street trophy class at the Oahe Speedway located near Pierre. (Capital Journal photo by Chuck Clement)His first summer of drag racing has proved to be an eventful one for Alex Lindholm of Pierre, he’s made his mark at the local Oahe Speedway and took runner-up honors during a divisional drag-racing competition.Lindholm, 16, has raced in at least 10 competitions this summer — nine at the local drag strip north of Pierre and one contest that was held on Sept 16-18 in Brainerd, Minn. He finished second with a time of 13.929 seconds in the high school division at the Division 3 Summit Racing Series ET Finals in Minnesota.Tyler Risse of Waterloo, Iowa, won the high school division with a time of 11.639 seconds, racing a 1983 Buick Regal.During the competitions, Lindholm has driven a 1968 American Motors AMX sports car owned by his father, Bruce. In fact, it was his father who encouraged Lindholm to start drag racing at the new Oahe Speedway that opened this summer.“My dad got me into it,” Lindholm said. “He knew about the new drag strip coming in.”But his father didn’t have to do much arm twisting, Lindholm has enjoyed his first year of racing.“It’s fun to go and see how everyone’s car does at the races and talk to other people about their cars,” he said.Lindholm also had a large amount of success at the drag strip located north of Pierre. As of late September, he was the points leader for the street trophy class with 2,737 points. He has won four first-place honors and one runner-up title at the Oahe Speedway.He competes in bracket racing at the speedway, where a driver races his vehicle against his dial-in time. Each driver determines their optimum dial-in time by racing the car down the drag strip in time trials. Lindholm has found that the AMX has a dial-in time of 14 seconds.“I think that bracket racing is more of a test of a driver’s skill at racing,” Lindholm said.In bracket racing, if he races against a competitor with a dial-in time of 15 seconds, the other driver takes off from the starting line first and Lindholm follows a second later.“That’s so we should end up finishing at about the same time,” he said.The usual weekend of racing at the Oahe Speedway means that Lindholm will perform three time trials and four elimination runs in competition. While some other local teenagers compete at the Oahe Speedway, Lindholm has drag raced against drivers from Gettysburg, Rapid City and even Phoenix, Ariz.Lindholm said his father has owned the AMX for about 20 years. American Motors built the sports car model from 1968 to 1972, naming it AMX for American Motors Experimental. The sports car was based on the American Motors Javelin but without the Javelin’s back seat, making the AMX about a foot shorter in length.The 1968 models were available with an optional 390 cubic-inch, four barrel V-8 engine, the engine that Lindholm’s car has under the hood. The 390 engines offered 315 horsepower from the factory, and AMXs were built with heavy-duty suspensions, large diameter sway bars and rear traction bars. American Motors built 10,000 AMXs in 1968 and recommended a list price starting at $3,300.Lindholm said his quarter-mile runs down the drag strip usually push the speedometer to 99 to 100 mph with his fastest speed at 101 mph. The cars driven in the street class are basically stock automobiles. The only required equipment amounts to radiator overflow tanks and dual throttle return springs on the engines and drivers must wear DOT-certified helmets. — with Alexander Nels Lindholm.Preston Buscay:Today is the birthday of a very dear friend of mine who passed this last summer.He and I met nearly ten years ago at a hockey camp in North Dakota and stayed friends ever since. He was so smart and was such a great mentor navigating our way to adulthood. I looked up to him immensely. There are times where I regret not keeping in better touch but I remind myself how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to have known him and to have enjoyed the years of our friendship. Today I want the world to know that a great man will always be remembered.Happy birthday Alexander Nels LindholmLisa B:May 24th is for AlexMay 24, 2014 at 9:40amThis time last year was the last time I got to see my best friend. Alex came to stay with us Minneapolis through the long Memorial Day weekend. I can't help but share these memories because they are the best ones I have and it is important for me to focus on the levels of happiness that man reached.Friday night.... I'll leave out details of the stories he told in honor of him. But more or less, he went out with his work buddies & boss and I know at some point in the evening he got a free steak. As you can imagine, that was a great gift for him to get on his golden birthday :)Saturday morning I know he went for a long (hung over) walk by the lake by himself. The weather was great. While I was at work, he went off on an adventure to the history museum with his friend Katie. After work Katie, Alex, Casey and I walked to a nearby Irish pub for fish & chips & beers. I can't remember what we were talking about but I remember laughing hysterically during that dinner and the walk back to my place. The night ended with us drinking wine and watching episodes of "My Drunk Kitchen" on YouTube. (If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.)Sunday Alex and I went to the uptown Cafeteria for brunch. We both ordered the biggest, most expensive plate full of everything. He also got the Bloody Mary bar where you could build your own on a big buffet table of options. It was a masterpiece. No shame in stuffing our faces that much, but it was exhausting. This was also the weekend the new season of Arrested Development had come out so we spent most of the day watching that, but I had to cut him off after so many hours of it! Many of you know that Alex had splurged on a BRAND NEW pair of sweet rollerblades as a birthday present for himself. He picked up the box from the mail that Friday, threw them in his trunk, and didn't even take them out until Sunday. I was getting antsy to see them! He finally sprawled the parts out on the floor and assembled them. He sat outside on the step with them on his feet just looking at them for awhile I swear lol. He took them for a short spin around the block/by the nearby church and that was about it. Back in the box they went, but he was certainly looking forward to using them in Pierre over the summer with friends. For supper that night we went for a walk to Pizza Luce - where we both ordered lasagna. Not just any lasagna, the best lasagna either of us had ever tasted. You could pick your sauce/cheese and it was swimming in a bowl of its own flavors. We split a big pitcher of Summer Shandy and even got a free side of artichoke dip from the waitress. I am certain that went down as one of his favorite dinner experiences of all time. Sunday morning we went to Alex's favorite breakfast spot, Butter. We'll always remember on the walk to the restaurant there was some sort of apparently really great, old car in bad shape outside of a garage on the side of the street and Alex was sad about it, saying things like "You poor thing, what did they do to you?!?!??? Whyyyyy?". After indulging in biscuits & gravy we went to Ax-Man of course. For those who don't know, look it up and go there yourself someday in his memory. It's a wonderful surplus store filled with random "parts" for any building/arts & crafts project your heart might desire. Alex was always a kid in a candy store here. Back at our place Alex started talking about buying a house in Minneapolis. He had thought about it off and on for a while, but it was tough being on contract in North Dakota without a good sense of timing. I know he really wanted to station himself here if he could only find enough garages! He had been looking at foreclosures for sale in town and entertained the idea of buying one and letting Casey and I pay rent to live there and take care of it for him for the time he was working away elsewhere. So we hopped in his BMW and took out a realtor map and drove around what turned out to be really sketchy neighborhoods, realizing the foreclosures he was looking at had been in the path of the big tornado that hurt North Minneapolis a few years back. Didn't see anything promising but made a fun adventure out of trying. Until it started raining and his car window wouldn't go up and he had to hit the road back to Fargo...Later I told him how lucky I felt that I got to do all those things with him. We both looked back on it as the best weekend we ever spent together. He was so excited to just be back in the city. He wasn't on anybody's watch, he got to relax and wing it and spend every minute of every day doing whatever he felt like doing. He spent money on himself and was proud of it because of how hard he had been working at that job, he deserved it. It was exactly what we both needed, a chance to indulge and laugh and just celebrate our ability to make our own happiness. I loved him, I praised him, I provided food and shelter for him, we opened up to each other and listened without judgment, we looked out for each other on a daily basis and I respected that friendship more than anything. It hurts to think about what could have been. The future he was looking forward to... but what helps is remembering how hard he worked to make something of himself and enjoy life. This story contains the last images I have of his smile, the last laughs that filled my heart. These memories are constant reminders that teach me to make the most of my time. Thank you, for the best of times.I will love you forever, my friend <3 ................
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