Bittersweet birthday. Allison Holker toasted her and late husband Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ son, Maddox, as he rang in his special day.
“Happy 7th birthday my sweet, sweet Maddox! Oh, I love you so much and couldn’t be more proud or grateful to be your mommy,” Holker, 35, wrote via Instagram on Monday, March 27. “I’m so proud of you! You are brave, strong, endearing, loving and full of joy.”
The dancer gushed over her middle child, adding, “You have this beautiful passion for life that brings light into every room you walk (run, jump, fly) into.”
Holker — who also shares daughters Weslie, 14, and Zaia, 3, with Boss — noted what an “incredible talk” she recently had with her son. (Boss adopted Weslie when he married Holker in December 2013.)
“We talked about how powerful you are and that we share a forever bond … you’re the sun and I’m your moon … pulling for each other forever and ever!” the So You Think You Can Dance alum concluded. “I love you and you deserve this perfect day celebrating you!”
The former Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings host shared a series of pictures of Maddox being surprised with gifts from his family on Monday.
“Wow! A masterpiece,” the birthday boy said in an Instagram video after he saw the gifts on the kitchen counter. “It’s all for you, bubba,” Holker replied.
Maddox’s seventh trip around the sun is the first birthday celebration the family has had since Boss died by suicide in December 2022. He was 40.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” Holker said in a statement at the time. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
She concluded her statement, writing, “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”
The Magic Mike XXL star first met Holker while working on season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance, which aired in 2010. The couple celebrated their nine-year wedding anniversary just days before Boss died.
In the months that have followed, the choreographer has been trying to find her rhythm as a single mom and figure out her late spouse’s estate.
“This has been a difficult process for Allison, but she’s confident it will all work out in the end and that the kids will be taken care of,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly last month, noting that Holker filed for half of Boss’ estate earlier in February since he left no will.
The insider noted that since losing her partner, the CLI Studios cofounder “has been a real mama bear, protecting the kids and working with everything she’s got to get through this unthinkable tragedy as best as they can.”
Earlier this month, Holker penned a letter to her three children, highlighting just how much she loves them in the wake of their huge loss.
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“My loves we are stronger than you could ever imagine. And we will stand strong together as a unit, and find the courage to hold each other up. I will be here for you every step of the way through the highs and lows, the ups and the downs,” she promised via Instagram on March 3. “I will protect and I will guide, I will be a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, I will have mom jokes ready for when you need a good laugh. The love and light inside our hearts will still shine. I love you forever and always. Mommy.”