Beautifully written.

wow - this fic is incredible. it literally elicited such complex, contradictory emotion in me - because i didn't realize how protective i am of josh until i read the outsiders perspective, because wow is he an asshole sometimes, but i love LOVE fics that show someone on the outside looking at josh or josh and donna. it's so well written and the characterization is spot on - i loved reading this. its an all time favorite for sure :))

this is a phenomenally written story. Seriously, it never felt expositional, maybe because it was from santos' pov and we got like a window into what is going on with josh rather than having his thoughts narrated. Really beautiful, i loved it

This is very moving.

You know, this is my fourth or fifth time reading this, and I feel like I HAVE to comment. This is one of my favorite stories ever written, in any fandom. You so perfect encapsulate the characters and I love your interpretation of Matt and Helen's relationship with Josh.

This is perfection. Thank you for writing this fic.

Poor Josh, so lonely...I wish there was more of this..and something that shows Matt and Helen like him...

Atleast he got Donna, though it was sad, it happened because of is Mom..but still its better now..

This is just such a beautifully drawn character study, both of Matt Santos and Josh Lyman. I've thought about it a lot recently, and it feels so very real. I recently re-read Ash Wednesday and then came back over here to this one...and it's amazing, the amount of depth and emotion you've captured, and how elegantly you've done it. Matt almost not recognizing Josh as "a friendly man among friends" in the old pictures just about crushed my heart (as did Josh making sure everyone was out of the hotel when the fire alarm went off).

I love this piece so much. Fantastic, fantastic work.

Now that's not fair. This has to be my second or third time reading this and I'm weeping. Big tears. Lotsa snot. It;s late or I'd be noisier. Howwwwww did you write something so incredibly touching that affects me this much on the third way through? You terrible, terrible person. Go be a screenwriter already. I need this on TV.

Awwww so sweet and great writing!

Oh my GOD ! This was such an amazing story. One of the best fan fic I have read about West Wing . I wish you could go on and on with this. Thanks for this amazing story !

awww that was beautiful

Beautiful!

I think I first read this story several months ago, but I keep coming back to it. I think it's because of this paragraph:

"Matt's a good sleeper. He rarely dreams, or at least, he rarely remembers his dreams. When he does, they're usually good ones, involving Helen, his children, or some version of one of the happy memories he still has from a childhood that most of the people he knows wouldn't expect to have produced happy memories. The poverty, the struggles, his time in the Marines—they don't bother him at night, or, really, any other time. It's not that he's unfeeling, but his mind doesn't work that way; he knows he did the best he could then, that he's doing the best he can now, and he's comfortable in his own skin. His particular demons are ones that rarely get the better of him. He thinks everyone sleeps the way he does."

I think about this paragraph, especially, "He thinks everyone sleeps the way he does," all the time. It's maybe the most perfect characterization I've seen of Santos-it sums up just about everything you need to know about him, doesn't it? "He thinks everyone sleeps the way he does."

This is an excellent character study and a really good read. I liked it a lot.

Beautiful and moving. So sad that Matt and Helen really didn't bother to get to know Josh better.