May 28^th,.. today is/would have been Sam’s 15^th Birthday.. we’ve been thinking about this day for months.. and it was finally here.. and it was a good day..   a really good day. There were tears and laughter.. much more laughter..  All of us woke up feeling good and strong. We’d planned lots for the day to remember and celebrate Sam.. we were all pumped.. Each of us had our own private time with Sam.. I was happy and sad at the same time.

   As soon as I woke enough to work, I started building the large rocket for launch at the park. My brother Billy had given me the rocket many years ago and I’d never gotten around to launching it.. Sam always was interested in it.. so here was the chance. Paulo had spent the night over.. so he helped me build the launch setup wile I assembled the rocket.. Now.. this was no ordinary tiny Estes style  rocket.. this was a whole different class. You need to be at least 18 to buy the G size engines and you need to  get clearance from the FAA to fly them (I never did … bad on me).   Anyway.. the thing came together smoothly. Gabe did the initial decorating

   While we worked on the rocket, Diane gathered up food and supplies for the party… Around 12 we all piled into cars with cakes, ice drinks, musical instruments amps, rockets, Frisbees. Shirts and about a dozen kids and headed down to Volunteers Green.   

There a group of kids lead by Tyler P taught the rest of us how to play Ultimate Frisbee..    There were only four grown-ups in the pack.. but  even so.. we had about 4 teams of between 15 and 20 folks each. I never had played Ultimate before.. I loved it !. Lots of running… which I’m reasonably good at.. and lots of throwing and catching which I suck at.. so it averaged out.   We had  two games going.. at first.. when those ended things started to dissipate a little.. a few people started leaving.. but then Tyler got us going in a second set of games, and the energy level came back up.

Unforuantely.. aboout 10 minutes into the first game..our good buddy Kevin twisted and dislocated his knee!. It reall lloked like it hurt. We called rescue and his folks..

By 3Pm we were all pretty pooped. We shuffled up to the band stand and gathered around the many cakes that folks had brought.

We all grabbed Red Bulls and sand a happy/tearful Happy Birthday for Sam.. that was the hardest and sweetest part of the day for me..

After the first round of cake and ice cream had been gobbled, we started in to the music.  First up was band that Max and Scott had organized just yesterday.. they were excellent even after having only 2 hours of practice..  As I took this movie clip, I cold see Sam’s beaming face reflected from my short in the viewfinder .. I knew he was enjoying Max, too

   After that we had Sam’s old band, Black Night Vengeance.. these guys are sounding really, really great.. they got the crowd moving.. that’s for sure.. I ended up on the ground looking up into the circle of headbangers.. it was awesome…

   Next came Skanky green and their wonderful originals.. I got really choked up when they sang ‘Captain Sam’.. the song that they wrote in honor of Sam.

“…You might just have some fun

You take it all so serious.. you might not live it down.

To take the plunge, you might have to take a dive

That’s what he would do if he were still alive ”  those  lines from that  song.. always, makes me smile and cry .

       Just after ‘Captain Sam’ , Max took the stage again and held up a small boat that he’d made of balsa wood and glue. Inside he’d made a watertight pocket  which held a letter he’d written. I’ll try to get the words to it and post them.. they were beautiful. They  told whoever found the boat about Captain Sam..  and his legacy. Max asked Gabe to launch the boat into the Winooski. A bunch of people got up on the bridge to  watch..  It was a really cool concept.. I really loved it…

    At that point.. I started to hand the rocket around for people to sign…  Everyone put their birthday wishes to Sam  all around the rocket .. it looked pretty cool.

We walked the rocket way back out in the field.   I didn’t really expect to recover  the rocket because of the high winds today.. so I just wanted the launch to be safe. We all gathered around the rocket.. which stood about 3 feet high and 3 inches in diameter. I put a SamStone in it just for fun.

..ket.com/albums/r319/johncohn/may07/May2807228.jpg”>

Gabe and Max did the honors on ignition. When Gabe hit that button there was a huge roar, a tail of flame and the thing took off … like a rocket !.. it went up and up.. through the clouds The first SamStone in Space.. (well.. almost) . it was amazing.. I’ve never seen anything that big fly so fast or so high. This is 3-4 times as high as those model rockets you can buy in the stores.. I think with the load I had it would have been about a half mile high.. and this thing was Big !..   We finally saw it drop back through the clouds.. a bunch of kids gave chase.. but with the winds.. it probably made it halfway back to Jonesville. I’m hoping someone sees it and finds the address we put on it.. we’ll see..   I like thinking that Sam saw the whole thing.. maybe in a way he did..

    My last official act for the day was to jump off the Richmond bridge.. Gabe had done it a bit earier in the day for the first time and came out relatively intact.  I’ve lived  in this city for more than 25 years and I’ve never jumped the bridge.. If Sam were here.. he’d do it … it felt great.. As I was dropping towards the water I was thinking about how much more I’m living life since Sam died.. life is certainly weird.  A few minutes Max did it for the first time.. we’re all now in the Clan of the Bridge… real men ! Grrrrrr !

     Around 6:00 there were still some folks around.. we did a few last cleaning passes.. then got in the car and went home. It had been a really good day.. lots of fun.. and lts of thoughts of Sam.. I know that Sam would have loved it.. I hope he did ! I know it may seem strange to some that we choose to make this day into a party.. but the way we figure.. We’ll have the sad times…no matter what…. we each had our share today.. if that’s going to be  the case.. why not put in some fun and celebration.? It was good for us.. and good for the community.. It would truly have been harder not to do it.

The last thing we did to day was to go up to the Kenny’s for a quick dinner and a regroup on the ‘Friend of Sam’ progress for the day. We’d donated the Sam shirts (you see them on everyone  in the pictures) and the Frisbees to the Friends of Sam to sell for their fundraising.

By the end of the night they’d raised  more than $3900. All of the money is going to the Tyler Eklund fund .. to help offset the expenses of the 14 year old Oregon Snowboarder who broke his neck and was paralyzed in a boarding  accident April 1^st. The money will help his family make their house wheelchair accessible.  The Friends of Sam kids are so amazing.. I’m really, really proud of them 

    As we were sitting around at the Kenny’s one of their lights magically turned on without anyone having touched it.. it was just a reminder that Sam was with us today and every day … I love you so much my boy.. Happy, happy birthday.. you live on in our hearts.. and in the hearts of all your friends… we love you.. we love you .. we love you so so much.

 -dad