Atley John Perez

In the early morning hours of May 13, 2020, we arrived at the hospital with only a few intense moments to spare before our midwife proudly announced “it’s a boy!” She placed the tiny bundle in our arms and our hearts swelled with love and dreams for our newborn son, Atley. In that moment, with our 6 and 9 year old daughters waiting for us at home, our family was complete.

From the time he was an infant, Atley and his infectious belly laugh brought us so much joy. He preferred spending as much time as possible in our arms with a front row view of whatever action was going on. When dinner had to be made, his sisters entertained him with piles of toys and sometimes helped him empty the contents of the kitchen drawers all over the floor. Atley would often cruise around the coffee table, pull down the baskets filled with books and crawl onto one of our laps to read his favorite one, which would change quickly, sometimes mid-sentence. He loved being outside watching the leaves on the trees, and his pre-bedtime routine included trips around the yard in a carrier on his dad’s chest while snuggling his beloved “raggie.” As his grew, his favorite outdoor activities involved finding stones and sticks to hold in each hand and clapping in delight when his sisters blew bubbles for him.