Ali Dean Sakhai

So, I am not writing the typical obituary because Ali Dean was never the usual anything. He did not collect titles or awards to impress anyone; he collected stories, good steak dinners, great red wine, a glass of scotch, and the quiet burn of a cigar under a sunset sky. He loved sunsets. He loved the road, driving his RV just to see what was out there. He’d pull out his phone, shoot a video, and send it to family and friends with his signature line: “Check this shit out.”

He loved his dog, our dog, Kasey, more than some people deserve to be loved. If you ever saw him throw a frisbee for her, you saw a man at his happiest.

He loved a long drive with no plan, a good argument that ended in laughter, and a truth told straight, no matter how sharp.

He loved me hardest of all, good, hard, real, soft. He believed in truth, honesty, and doing what was right, even when it cost him something. Maybe especially then. He didn’t care about looking polished; he cared about being true.

He was Forrest’s father, and he carries him now wherever he is. He was Savannah’s dad too; that story is still hers to write.

If you really knew him, you knew he could lift you up or cut you down in the same breath. He didn’t do anything halfway. If you deserved him in your corner, you got him. If you didn’t, he’d walk away without looking back. He had the gentlest hands when he wanted to, the sharpest mind, and a heart so wide it scared people who weren’t ready for it.

I was the luckiest — I got all of him. The gentle hands, the sharp mind, the big heart. I wish you’d seen him like that. I wish you’d known what you missed.

So don’t read this like a list of facts. Read this and ask yourself: Did you really know him? Did you ask him the good questions? Did you ever sit next to him at sunset and listen? If you didn’t, you missed the true, gentle man that he is. But you can still do what he’d want: tell the truth, stand up for what’s right, and when life gives you something beautiful, or even just strange and ordinary, say, “Check this shit out. Pretty fucking pretty, right?”