Tom Sullivan (ToS) and Terry Sullivan (TeS)

ToS: I remember when I called my mom and I told her, ‘There’s been a shooting, and Alex was in the theater;’ that was the first time I ever heard her cry. The day he was born I told her from the hospital that she had a grandson, and then 27 years to the day, I had to call her again and tell her that her grandson had been murdered. You know, when the theater reopened we were there.

TeS: I knew you had to go, and especially on his birthday.

ToS: I remember saying, ‘We’re gonna celebrate Alex’s birthday the way that we always have.’ And so we’ll go and sit in Alex’s seat that he was murdered in. You know, row 12, seat 12.

That’s where he was and that’s where we will always be. 

HOST:  A few days ago, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Aurora shootings, the Sullivans came back to StoryCorps. They still honor Alex’s birthday by sitting in row 12 seat 12 in the Century Aurora theater. 

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ToS: One time, I walked in and there were three, you know, kids sitting in those seats. So I sat in the row in front of them and about 5 minutes later, the three of them just got up.

TeS: [Chuckle] It was almost like he gave a little nudge [Laugh].

ToS: Yeah, like, ‘Hey, guys, my dad’s here, you’ve got to move.’ And so, he’s in the important places to us.

How do you want Alex to be remembered?

TeS: I think you’re doing a pretty good job now. Not letting people forget. Not just Alex, but every person that has been murdered.

ToS: The least I can do in each of these kinds of situations is read their names. We should know what they meant to their family and their communities.

I still do — kind of struggle. More people are dying by gun violence than they were ten years ago.

I have to suppress the utter anger that I have because all I can think about is how Molly, our granddaughter, is never gonna know her uncle Alex. 

But at the end of the night, we have to be hopeful because if you don’t have dreams, you have nothing but nightmares.