I’m sitting in the exact spot that we were standing 11 years ago tonight that Sam was not going to live.  A few hours earlier sam and his friends Parker and Eric had been out scootering while on vacation in Tampa…  a car swerved to avoid Eric and hit Sam. He was taken to the hospital as we got the call that he’d been injured. Somehow  we managed to  call billy, he called the doctors  at Clearwater hospital and got the news. He called to tell us.. it must have been so hard for hm to do.. I will always appreciate that it was him 

Diane and I were standing in this exact spot….  I can still feel how unreal it seemed.. 

it seems so unreal even now.

Earlier that day Sam had called and left a message for me about his trip. He was having so much fun.. I listened to the message again today.. as I have every year since..  You can hear it here.. 

Last phone message from Sam   

I miss him so much every day.. now the feeling is not so sharp. it’s like an ache.. but sweet with memories. What a great, great  kid..   

I miss you my son. We will always love you. 

These are hard stories to mix.. but I need to share something else

This morning  I learned that my cousin Leslie’s daughter Rachel died 2 days agao. Rachel was 26 and had a 3 yer old daughter Kennedy. I spoke with Leslie and her husband Brett for a while  today.. I’ so sad for them.. I didn’t know what to say to them today.

I know that there’s nothing really to say.. I wish them peace

I wish us all peace. 

nite all, nite sam

-me

1 am and just got home. We visited my sister , her family and my mom this weekend in Minneapolis .. nice visit. We caught a flight home around 11AM.. we landed inNewark about 3 t find that our flight to Albany had been canceled due to air traffic control. .. >. The next flight to Albany was not until tomorrow. We’d decided to fly in and out of there  because we got a good deal using frequent flyer miles..  We decided to rent a car and drive back … while we were waiting for our bags (which took an hour) we ran into a family from Houston that had been booked on the same canceled flight… so we offered to give them a ride.. Maria, Sonia and Katharina.. really nice talking to them on the ride up. .. We dropped them in Albany, returned the rental car , picked up our car and grabbed some chinese food then drove the last 3 hours. All in all it was about 6 hours of driving and 2 hours of flying.. ugh

Glad  to be home …

The next couple of days are tough for us.. We will make the 11th anniversary of Sam’s passing on Tuesday.  Still so  hard to believe he’s not here. 

Please join us on Tuesday  to remember Sam. we’ll all meet to hike Bolton  a 1PM .. then all meet back here at 6PM for a potluck . https://www.facebook.com/events/171000990151715/

nite all, nite sam

-me

We spent a very fun day in Minneapolis with my sisters family and my Mom.    My day began with carrot cake and Bundi Masala.. A day that starts with spicy okra cant go wrong. 

 

Diane and I took Mary and John’s dog Skye out for a 3 mile run around the lake of the isles.. right near their ose.. It was a beautiful cool and clear day. 

 

Grandma was satuing at the hosue as well 

 

It was great hanging out with my nephews.. we spent most of the day getting up to mischief of one sort or another. 

 

 

both Jake and THeo are really into sceince.. we made a simple motor 

 

 

my brother phoned in to say hi 

 

ellery had soem freinds over for cookie making 

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this house is huge an amazing .. very warm and comnfortable and informal inside.. stately outside. 

 

prrof that my sister is now a grown uo.. to me she is always 12 years old. 

 

she was sporting a new hircut today. 

 

around 3 we drove to watch theo’s hockey practice   he’s very good on the ice 

 

at that point we were just a mile from my mom’s. she wanted to show us her new condo.. which overlooks the Mississippi .

 

 

firstly thing inside the door is my dad’s hat.. made me happy to see 

 

 

 

check out this view !

 

lots of family memorabila.. felt lie home 

 

lots of pictures of dad.. made me miss him. 

 

 

views from moms condo were really nice 

 

 

 

here’s where the local footbal team plays

 

 

lots of sam pics.. which made me happy/sad

 

mom gave us a tour.. here’s hwer sorage room 

 

her neighbor Marta is a potter… she’s from Hungary.. she accidentally became a potter when she accidentally signed up for pottery when she meant to sign up for poetry  in college   . her’s her digs 

 

marta was a movie star in Hungary back in the day.. here she was in the 60’s 

 

mom took us to see some of the other facilities.. her’s the ‘party room’ .. 

 

we had a toast to moms new place 

=

 

we took a short very cold walk along the river.. 

then home to marys for  more science mischief  (spud gun, steel wool, mentos and coke) 

 

now almost 11 am. time for sleep..

more tomorrow

 

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Greetings from Minneapolis… I’m at my sister Mary and her husband John’s house… It’s the first time I’ve ever been here. Beautiful place. My mom is here too. Diane and I are visiting for two days. So great to see everyone doing so well. My nephews Theo and Jake and my niece Ellery I’ve gotten so big… They have a really cute dog named skye Why can’t get enough of… Right now all I can think about is crawling into bed and getting some sleep… I’ll post more pictures of the family tomorrow

Here are a couple to tide you over

OK… Can’t hold my eyes open any longer… More tomorrow

night all, night Sam
-me

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