Today is the day we mark Sam’s passing.   We miss him so very much. He was such a loving and fun person. He was kind and smart and strong. 

We think of him all the time and feel his presence  in everything we do.  ..
My heart hurts so much tryign to write this..  After so many years you would think it would get easier to tell the sortory,.. but it doesnt.. not for me at least. 

IBM sent a plane for us and flew us down to florida.  I’m forever grateful for that 

We spent the day with Sam as we made the decision that we knew Sam would want,  tgat he would donate his organs to save other peopke. 

We honored sam as we do most eyars by takign a hike. Sam loved the outdoors. Thats where Ifeel him the most.. 

Gabe. Mya Diane and I heade to the washington side of the gorge and did the 7.5 mile Cape horn loop. It was a beutiful walkj.. lots of differnt terrains.

As I walked Ithought about Sam doing every day things.. rememebring his voice, his smile.. his strong body.. 

This is the best way to remember  him .    

From one part of the trail we couls see multunomah falls on the other side of the river.. We have  great picture of Sam there when he was up at High Cascasde.. Must have been 2004 or 2005

We did a red bull toast for Sam. Mya through a samstone towards the river.. you can see it in flight !

We jeard this thundering and realized that tehre was a train tunnel under the mountain. the train peaked out for a short bit

GReat hike.. and a great way to be outside for Sam. 

For dinner we went to Korean BBQ.. it was the closest that we could find to Sam’s favorite Mongolian Buffet restaurant in VT 

Yum !!!!

The a stop by Movie Madness  to pick out a movie. It’s the one place Iknow htat has copies of The Colony ! 

At home, Gabe pulled out Sam’s guitar and did a nice rendition of Asuturias, Sams signature piece

Good way to end a day remembering our Sam
We love you my son !

nite all,. nite sam
-me

I never know whta to write on this day. Tonight is the day 19 years ago that we got the call that Sam had been struck by a car.. and would not live.  Its a moment, an hour , a day that is etched into my brain..  

I spent the day thinking about Sam.. abotu the wondeful soul is was.. his kindness and bright smile. I always go to this one moment he hugged me and I realized that he was stronger than I was. 

Diane made a carrot cake today.. Sam’s favorite. 

I still have sams last phone message to us,.. it was on this day.. he was down in florida having fun .. 

 THe last thing he said to us  was “love you … bye”

I miss you my son.. I will ove you forever

nite all. nite sam
-me

Busy day working around Gabe’s .. we’ve got most of his stuff packed up for shipping some to our house for storage, some on to Germany. It’s been fun and hard work goign therough all this. Motivates us to do some downsizing at home too 

I have lots going on at BETA now  I’m writing lots of code in the build up to a big test we’re doign next week. Its fun and challenging.  I’m actually able to get lots done here even while working on Gabes stuff. 

the weather is cold an rainy. here.. so not much sun.. but when it does come out, we try to get outside . On our run today Diane introduced me to a plant  the harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum)also called the peanut butter tree.. when you squish the leaves between your fingers it smells exactly like peanut butter !

spent the rest of the day inside.. .. the occasional glimpse of sunlight did amazing stuff to the prisms on Gabes windows.

in addition to pcking. Diane is making sure that Gabes gardens stay healty.. she did a beautiful job  mulching around gabes roses.. I think one of those roses is from Gabe’s great grandmothers garden !

tomorrow starts our marking of Sam’s passing.. tough time for us. Happy to be here with family

nite all nite sam
-me

Very nice day here in Portland.. a bit cold and rainy.. but warmer than home !   We worked around the house between BETA meetings. We’ve got most of Gabe’s stuff boxed and ready to ship.. which is faster than we thought we’d be. 

Gabe had a workout class last night.. so Diane and I took a walk out for dinner. First stop was the wonderful Asian market HMart.. they had a whole cooler filled with different types of Kimchi !.. and a display of different types of ‘Vermont Curry’ .. wich is famous in japan (see my post from 2013)

We didnt fnd anythign dinner worthy at Hmart.. so we walked on down the street in search of Thai.. we had a nice meal at Mai TTai.. then wandered back. One of th ehloghts was a stop under the amzingly ancient and bright animated sign at the Avalon just down the street. You cna hear rthe realys clacking.. its so cool . 

Saw two noteworthy things on our walk.. first was a subgenious sign with our old freind Bob Dobbs (Bob is our Hope) .. havent seen him in a while

and the 2nd was the first xmas tree of the year.. even pre Thanksgiving!

 

Later this evening we rented and watched the new Frankenstein movie by Guillermo Del  Torro. I’m not a monster movie fan.. but this was excellent. The story line was really rich. the costumes were great.. and you realy got to know this creature.. I Definitely recommend it. 

nite all, nite sam
-me