Today is Alex’s 30th birthday. That is a milestone! I remember turning thirty myself, with Alex and her brothers by my side, and reflecting on how my twenties had been such a time of growth — graduating college, starting my first full-time job, getting married to my high school sweetheart, and welcoming three children into the world. 

As I think of Alex today, I feel a deep sadness that she never even reached “double digits.” Imagining her as an adult is almost impossible as the milestones she has missed have now created an enormous chasm between who she was and who she might be today.

Not long ago, I tried to use AI to render a “30-year-old” version of Alex from her childhood photos. I followed every instruction carefully, hoping to catch a glimpse of what she might have looked like in 2026. The results never felt quite right. I kept going back with suggestions or notes, and when the final image was generated, the woman in the photo looked like a total stranger. I couldn’t connect with her at all.

That lack of connection left me with a complicated set of emotions. I was disappointed at the rendering AI offered me. I was annoyed that the results were so clearly not Alex. I felt guilty for trying to create an imaginary Alex, when my real Alex, the one of my memories and heart, is perfect as I remember her. I downloaded the image to my camera roll, filing it away and turned my attention to other things. But a few days later, I was scrolling through my camera roll and stopped on that AI image that gave me so many feelings.

It wasn’t that the generated image didn’t look like a future Alex, it’s just that the photo had no memories attached. No photo can capture all that Alex was or would have been. And no generated photo has memories of laughter and love and hard times and amazing stories attached.

The image was missing Alex’s life.

That realization led me to think about how I would represent Alex today. For me to represent Alex at 30, I need to collect all the ways she lived on and the milestones that represent her life and legacy.

I keep thinking about another Alex — also named Alexandra — who was born exactly one week before my Alex, in January 1996. Like my Alex, she was diagnosed with cancer very young. My Alex was just shy of one year old; the other Alex was two.

Over time, their paths continued to echo each other in different ways too. They both fought cancer for many years. My Alex was eight when she died.  The other Alex enjoyed some years cancer-free, but when she was eight, she was diagnosed with a second cancer. Once again, she fought and survived. But unbelievably, when she was 14 years old, she faced cancer yet again. And again, she survived.

Last weekend, the other Alex celebrated her milestone 30th birthday (you can see her birthday photo at the top of the blog). She is recently engaged to be married, finishing her residency at Boston Children’s Hospital and will soon begin a fellowship in pediatric oncology in New York City. Along the way, she was a recipient of an Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Pediatric Oncology Student Grant — support made possible because of my Alex and people like you supporting her vision.

I can’t help but see the parallels between the “two Alexandras.” The other Alex survived because of research funded before her time. And now, she is dedicating her life to helping “kids like her”, just like my Alex did in her life.

I am fortunate to feel connected to the other Alex through the years. Stories like hers show us what progress looks like when research is sustained, when time is allowed to do its work, and when we refuse to stop pushing for better outcomes for children facing cancer.

I am also fortunate that I still feel profoundly connected to my Alex. She lives in my heart, in the memories of all who loved her, and in the life of the Foundation. Her spirit continues through our Alex’s Lemonade community of supporters, the researchers relentlessly searching for new cures, and the families and children whose lives have been touched in both big and small ways thanks to her legacy.

Her milestones have not stopped. They continue in breakthroughs, in new cures for kids, in families finding the support they need, and in the countless people inspired by her story. Each passing year brings new memories to uncover and new milestones achieved.

Alex’s life story is far from finished. She may forever be eight in our eyes, but her spirit, her impact, and her legacy keep growing--marking milestones every day in the lives she continues to touch.

And that is certainly worth celebrating — Happy 30th Birthday, Alex!

On January 18, we celebrate Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation founder Alex Scott's birthday. Alex died at age 8--after fighting neuroblastoma for most of her life. While in treatment, Alex started a movement to cure childhood cancer. 

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