When I was first getting to know Olof I had the impression that he was pure tech geek from start to finish. Computers and programming were both his livelihood and his favorite hobby. When he took a break from writing code, he could most often be found watching Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, or some sort of anime. He was a member of the Stockholm Trekkers club and faithfully attended their monthly movie marathon (though thankfully not in costume), and he had a large collection of comic books. Not that any of these things are bad things; you can see how I came by my impression is all I’m saying.

What I didn’t see, in that first early year, was how much more there is to this man. While he does love computers above all things–he once told me that the only thing that kept me from being perfect was that I don’t have a similar love of computers–he is far from being the one-dimensional geek that I once perceived him to be. In addition to programming a computer like nobody’s business, he can put up a new wall in your house. He can cook you a well-balanced and tasty meal. He can knit you a scarf. He can repair your lawnmower. He can bake you a loaf of bread from scratch.

He will carry a seven-foot Christmas tree uphill for two miles just to surprise you. He will stay up for hours rocking a crying baby. He will call you out on the porch to marvel with him at a beautiful rainbow. He will work with a baby on one shoulder and a toddler stuck fast to his side–with the shrillness of Cartoon Network as a backdrop–so that you can take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. He will walk the dogs and clean the litterboxes without complaint, though you’re the one who brought home all of the animals in the first place. He will trudge to the store through the cold and dark to bring home the one thing you’ve been craving, then turn around and trudge right back when it turns out there wasn’t just one thing.

And that’s just for starters.