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Hey, I do part two. It's your celebrity mentors, me, Joan Vassos, and Kathy Swartz.

And today, we get to connect with someone from Bachelor Nation who is in the same club as us that no one wants to be a member of.

Of course, we're talking about the club for people who have lost a spouse.

Yeah. Joan and I, we've both lost spouses, but it feels a little different because our children were a little bit older.

But, you know, it's a still is a club no one wants to belong to.

And today we are going to chat with someone who is in that same group with us. We all met Michael Alio on Katie Thurston's season of The Bachelorette and again on Bachelor in Paradise.

He has a new children's book out that we also can't wait to talk with him about.

But in the meantime, please welcome Michael to the pod.

Hi, Michael.

Hi, thanks for having me on, guys.

You look great and I'm so happy to be on here and be able to chat with you guys about all things and this dreadful club that we're all part of it.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, since we are all members of this club, tell us about your late wife, Laura, and what she was like.

I appreciate that question, too. I met Laura when I was 18. I was a freshman in college. She was a

senior in high school on a college visit. And I saw her from across the quad walking around campus. And I told her,

no joke. I said, if you come here next fall, then I'll make it worth your while.

I have big bumps. I love that. And this is without Facebook. This is without, I didn't have her

cell phone. I ended up seeing her in the cafeteria, the without Facebook. This is without, I didn't have her cell phone. I ended up seeing her in the cafeteria the following fall and lived up to my promise. So we were together for 16 years. We had all life's milestones, got the job, you know, moved together, grew together, and had a kid, James.

And when we welcomed him into the world, we had about seven months of bliss before we found

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