They especially loved stories that had Native Americans in them, so Hill would put her boys in the story with made-up names.
Andres’ was Tenderfoot, for his tender feet, and Alex’s was Bright Star, because of the way he could light up a room with his presence and smile.
After Alex’s death Dec. 17, Hill will always remember her son by the same smile that inspired his fictional name.
“He was just vibrant and full of life,” Hill said. “I still remember his smile. It was just disarming.”
Alex was a freshman at IU on his way home for winter break when he was killed in a car ?accident.
One of the things about Alex that made people want to be around him was his humor. Even when he was only 2 1/2 years old, he was getting his mom to laugh.
“I was pregnant with his brother, and he grabbed my glasses and ran around holding them on his face saying, ‘I’m pregnant and you’re in time out’ to imitate me,” Hill said.
He was also known for breaking out in song, and sometimes female classmates would jump in.
“He was still just finding his way and figuring out what he wanted to do,” Hill said. “When he was home in November, he said he might just take piano and become a singer. He loved music.”
He enjoyed hip-hop music and people told him he looked like Bruno Mars.
Alex came into IU as a business major but realized it wasn’t for him, Hill said. A few months into his freshman year, he told his mom he wanted to become a pilot and join the U.S. Air Force, but really he was more into living in the moment.
“He was pretty content to be carpe diem,” Hill said. “It was just dawning on him this year he wasn’t in high school anymore and had to think about his future.”
Much of his time was spent watching sports. He told his mom that he and his roommate, who lived in Foster Quad, never turned off SportsCenter.
He played football for Wheeler (Ind.) High School as the quarterback for a few years and other positions as a senior due to injuries.
Alex was homecoming king his senior year and a supportive older brother, ?Andres said.
At one point, Andres was having a difficult soccer ?season.
He started varsity as a freshman, but was benched for not playing as well as ?expected.
“(Alex) helped me deal with that and get through the season because he knew what it was like,” Andres said.
Andres said he will miss the little things most.
“I’ll miss when we used to go back and forth calling each other names and stuff and just talking together,” ?he said.
Since Alex went to college, Andres said he has felt lonely without him.
“It’s just a little more quiet in our house,” he said. “When we went places, I felt just a little more alone because I didn’t have my brother to ?talk to.”
His cousin Erinn Gallagher said she was happy to have Alex at IU.
“I was so excited for him to be here and figure out his place at IU,” Gallagher said. “I always loved when he would tell me about his first ?semester.”
Just before he came to IU, Alex drove a friend to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to catch a flight. His friend’s father was paralyzed and couldn’t take him, so Alex drove him through Chicago traffic, an hour-and-a-half long trip, to make sure he got there.
“I didn’t want him to do it,” Hill said. “But his friend didn’t have a way to get there and someone needed ?to do it.”
Alex’s one flaw was that he needed people too much and that he was sometimes loyal to a fault, Hill said.
“He stood by kids even if they weren’t the best,” Hill said. “He would be loyal to them and do things for them.”
The phone call about Alex’s accident came when Hill was at home. Getting Alex home had been a ball of confusion. Originally, she was going to pick him up Tuesday, Dec. 16, the day before he died, but he said he could save her the trip and get a ride with a friend.
Then, Wednesday night he called Hill asking if she could come pick him up, but due to work she couldn’t until the next day. He ended up finding someone new, who his mother didn’t know, to take him.
“This kid drove down a different road that they shouldn’t have been taking,” Hill said. “Alex just wanted to be home and that’s why he didn’t wait for me, and now I’m left with this horrible sense that I should’ve picked my kid up.”
Gallagher said she felt the same.
“He was just an 18-year-old kid who was anxious to get home after his first semester away,” Gallagher said. “He was just coming home into his own and having fun and he won’t get the chance to see where all that potential was going to take him.”
Hill is still waiting to hear back on the investigation of the accident and to retrieve Alex’s belongings that were in the car.
“I want his laptop so I can get into his hard drive,” Hill said. “He was writing a paper for class and I want to read it, you know.”
Even though the car ride turned into a tragedy, Hill said she is comforted knowing her son believed in Jesus Christ.
“God knew him and he knew God,” Hill said. “I have to keep going with that. That he was in God’s hands.”
Hill said she hopes her son is remembered as a great friend, a fun person and for his all-around good soul.
“He just wanted to get the enjoyment of life and he would always seek to be on the pleasant side,” Hill said. “It was hard to break his spirit.”
In honor of Alex, the family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for services and a memorial at ?gofundme.com/alexruesta.
