‘MY EVERYTHING’: Josh and Alyssa Seitz survive ‘The Divorcer’ on their first date to turn childhood love into a happy life

Josh and Alyssa Seitz have written a different love story for themselves from the start, first meeting as fifth-graders, then going their separate ways, and eventually reuniting to build a happy life with two beautiful kids. Josh says they were “elementary school sweethearts” who met in 2001 when her school closed, dated for a while, drifted apart as kids do, and found each other again as adults.

They shared a love for bowling, date nights and dinners on their way to a quaint wedding at Alyssa’s parents house in July 2020, which served as the happiest ending to their family story. They now have two kids, Austen (10) and Riley (6), and two pups, Gibson (11) and Quinn (2) and an incredible life built around family and friendship.

“She’s a great mom and a great wife,” Josh said. “She puts the family first for everything. She is honest, and she brings out the best in me.”

Josh can rattle off a million other qualities he loves about Alyssa, but arrives at a beautiful conclusion: whether as a fifth-grader or a husband and father, he has always felt comfortable in his own skin around Alyssa. She understands, accepts and supports without hesitation and sets that tone in her family.

“She’s a great listener,” Josh said. “She is my No. 1 supporter, and she has helped me learn to love. She has the ability to be my best friend and my lover at the same time. I can be myself around her.”

Alyssa works by day for the Committee of Adjustments for the County of Brant, and by evening, she is Supermom to Austen and Riley, an awesome wife to Josh, and a loving daughter and granddaughter. Alyssa isn’t one to just say that her family means everything to her. She shows it with her actions.

Those priorities have rubbed off on Josh and made her home a happy and loving place. Alyssa makes it all happen by always working hard with a smile on her face.

“She is always doing things for her grandmother,” Josh said. “She looks after me in every way possible

She cooks every night. She makes the kids’ lunches for school. She does the laundry, gets groceries, all without so much as a complaint or a request for help.”

Josh laughs as he looks back at their reunion as adults, their first date at an escape room in Hamilton, drinks, and a long first kiss that was disrupted by laughter at Will Ferrell in “The Other Guys.” There were no such disruptions for the rest of the night, Josh adds with a wink, and from that point forward

While they didn’t conquer “The Divorcer” escape room, they did manage to survive it and learn that, win or lose, they would only continue growing together.

“It was a clear box with holes in all sides where we had to take chopsticks and lift a ring to the top of the box,” Josh explained. “I was about 85 percent of the way through it and she decided to help me by grabbing my hand while saying, ‘Try this,’ and knocking the ring to the bottom of the box.”

That was in August 2017, which led them to their 2020 wedding and where they are today. Funny how the kids who once sat through an entire traffic light cycle while zoned out off “substances” are now happily married after nearly a decade apart.

All the while, Josh knows Alyssa has helped him become the best version of himself.

“She has taught me to be empathetic, to be myself regardless of who is around, and express myself,” Josh said. “She showed me that it’s OK to show emotions.”

Josh has no problems saying that he leans on Alyssa just as heavily as the kids do. And she’s always right there to lean back and put a meal on the table or smiles on all of their faces. Their time together, from childhood to marriage, has been the best of Josh’s life, and he can’t wait to see what’s next.

“You are my everything,” he said. “I want nothing more than to spend this Valentine’s Day and every other one with you as long as we’re both alive.”