Birth Date: 01/07/1996
Deceased Date: 01/30/2020
Alexander Benjamin Lane was born on January 7th 1996. After a long, difficult and valiant battle with addiction, he left this world too soon on Thursday January 30th 2020. Alex is survived by his loving family – parents Cheryl and Larry, his brothers Griffin and Jackson, grandparents Fran and Ben, and Aunts, Uncles, and many cousins, nephews and nieces.
Alex was born during the blizzard of ’96 in Pennsylvania and his grand entrance foretold how he would live the rest of his life – with an intense, larger than life personality. Alex loved his family, and always had fun picking on his younger brothers. When Jackson was learning to ride a bike, Alex told him the training wheels were invisible, and even though he couldn’t see them, he believed him and rode the bike for the first time without training wheels. Alex had a phenomenal sense of humor and never failed to make his friends smile and laugh.
Alex graduated from Clayton High School in 2014. He enjoyed playing football with the Clayton Civitan League and at Clayton High School as well as baseball – he was a natural, gifted athlete. After High School, Alex studied at both Buncombe Community and Cape Fear Community Colleges.
Alex struggled for many years with his addiction, everyone who loved him and were witness to it had experiences of pain and sorrow. It was a great gift to his family that they were able to reconcile and fully express their love for each other before he passed. Not every family that endures a loved one with addiction gets this chance for closure, and they are all grateful for this final gift.
Alex worked hard and loved deeply throughout his life and those that were given that love returned it to him in the same, deep way. He always wanted to be surrounded and loved by his friends and was always ready to give love to those he cared about but wasn’t able to give that same love to himself.
He recently found a deep connection and love for the land and house that his great grandfather Herman and his brother built and had lived in for so many years, clearing pathways to a pond so that he and his best friend Riggs could go hunting. Alex was so happy to be reconciled with his family and friends over the last 5 months and he was making so many plans for his future.
His family and dear friends mourn a life cut short, when there was so much promise ahead. Alex’s soul is at peace now, so there is comfort in that. It is a fervent hope shared by those who loved Alex – that his friends keep the conversations going about addiction. It would help make sense of a senseless tragedy if someone else could be saved from the monster that is opioid addiction.
A Memorial Service will be held at Christ Community United Methodist Church on Saturday February 8th at 1:00 pm. Please wear walking shoes, as there will be a short walk to the memorial site.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations in Alex’s memory to Narcotics Anonymous, North Carolina Region. Donations can be made online at na.org or checks can be mailed to: NA World Services, PO Box 9999, Van Nuys, CA 91409.
Online condolences can be sent to the family at parrishfh.com
