To day was our final push we made or las trips to goodwill and the dup. The pile of stuff Gabe is bringing by car.. or we’re carryin on our next trip is getting really small !

The pile of boxes we took to UPS was taller than diane.. and these pics dont show even half of it. 

After all of the dropping off and shipping, Gabe headed out to his mandolin lesson. . After his leasson, Gabe picked us up and we went out a nice dinner at the moon and sixpence.. we listened to soem music and ate fish and choips.. Gabes mandolin teacher Rene and his freind and gutarmaker Jeff were tehre too. We got to talk to them again. thei is our third time gettign to talk to Rene. What a wonderful guy. super kind.. he’s calm and reflective. I was not surprised to here that went to Goddard college back in the 60’s .. 

after dinner, Gabe took us back to our airbnb. we said good bye to him.. we’d said bye to nova earlier. I thk we’ll be back in less than 3 weeks.. . 

We are so proud of gabe.. even thought he’s got so much on his plate right now .. he was a wonderful host .

nite all, nite sam
-me

DIane, Gabe and I continue to go through all the house and pack, sell, give away or throw away as much as possible in prep for his move. Todays big giveaway was his bed ! He gave it to a freind of a freind who drove one and a half ours to get ti. We helped her mount it on her truck. Looks comfy !

TOmorrow we make our last run to UPS, Goodwill and the dump !
we’re making great progress !!!!

nite all. nite sam
-me

Today  we mark the day that Sam’s strong organs helped save 4 people’s lives. The decision for  Sam too  become an organ donor was the easiest impossibly difficult decision we ever had to make. We’d discussed organ donation as a family. We knew what Sam would want. 

saying goodbye to Sam as he went into the transplant surgery was .. and is .. the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do . As I write this.

I can feel that moment like it was today. 

I hope you or your loved ones are never faced with this choice, but in the chance that you are. please have a discussion with you family about thier wishes. Organ donation is a personal choice, and making your wishes known to your loved ones is the most important act you can do to make sure they do know your wishes. 

please do that in honor of Sam and all the other oregan donors 

as tough as todays memories are, they are part of someone else’s best day. 

And life goes on .. literally .. 

We spent the day having fun.  We went to see Gabe’s Mandolin teacher Rene and his long time student Olivia playing in a beutiful cafe. Rene plays mandolin, guitar, banjoe (and I’ll bet many other instruments). He’s such a lovely guy. He and Olivia have been playing together for more than 20 years sunce when aliva was 12 !..  they played a wide range of styles. All beutiful. 

The day was rainey, but twe got gabe and nova out for a walk.. we had to show him the peanut butter tree. . You run the leaves and it smeels exactly(!) like peanut butter 

we saw somone setting up for soemthing .. an engagement ? wedding ? protest.. who knows ? 

Towards evening we made a spur of the moment decision to go to the zoolights festival at the oregon zoo. We didnt expect much.. but it was AMAZINg.. the whole place was decekd out with light up animals, soem animated. some interactive.. It must have cost a fortune !  it was so fun !!!!

Great way to end a day.. 

remember to give life.. 
We love you Sam

nite all, nite sam
-me

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