NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Ted Alexander is back at Old Dominion. The Sun Belt Baseball Tournament found the Voice of the Monarchs back on the airwaves after some time away.
"To be able to get back to it has been therapeutic, times ten," Alexander said.
He's told plenty of stories of adversity involving others during his time on the air, including some here at WTKR News 3. Now he's back in the office, after his own personal hardship, one that reminds us all that the sports he chronicles are simply games when compared to life.
"It was remarkable to see her strength through the whole thing and I can't imagine having that same strength myself," he noted. "She did it for her girls and she wanted to keep living."
Alexander's wife, Laurie, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and went through a long and courageous battle with the disease. She was in the fight of her life for 15 years and the ups and downs that came along with it.
"You'd go through the remission after a few years and the hope is there and then it would come back and you're in a battle," Alexander recalled. "Obviously she's on the front lines. I'm just trying to be the helper."
Old Dominion basketball games had a noticeable void on the airwaves in early January, when Alexander stepped away from the microphone to take a leave of absence. He needed to return home as Laurie's condition worsened, a decision that would allow him to be by her side throughout her final months.
"Slowly but surely, different things popped up in her health scenario and she was getting worse and getting further and further away from the person she wanted to be in terms of health," Alexander said.
Laurie's battle came to an end in the middle of March, when she passed away peacefully.
"It just blows my mind, the strength she put up with what she went through at the end," he said. "It was really touching and heartbreaking and everything in between."
Now Ted and his two grown daughters, Amanda and Natalie, are adjusting to their new normal. It's a grieving process that presents its share of unknowns and surprises, but one they're navigating through together.
"It's just one day at a time," Alexander noted. "Put one foot in front of the other, one breath at a time, and I know the girls and I will, slowly but surely, make sense of this new reality and be able to thrive in it I hope."
The next part of the journey is uncharted territory for Ted and his family, but he's moving forward with a strong support system to help him get through, along with memories from 36 years of marriage that will always burn brightly.
"Just the long ride and a ride that, although the ending wasn't what we were looking for, it was a wonderful story."
