Sam

Sam was notoriously happy and violent. One of my favorite family videos is of him slam dunking the basketball in his bedroom, then kicking Jimmie as hard as he could over and over again. Nothing made him happier than at least trying to inflict pain on his big brother or dad.

I loved the time, now well known, that we had a family home evening in Fremont. I was tired and short on patience and the kids seemed to sense that. We started our lesson and it was hopeless from the beginning. Kids were wild, fussy, laughing. After trying for a while, impatience got the better of me and i sent everyone to bed. I went up to our room with Karen and soon we heard little footsteps tramping down the stairs. I looked and Karen and smiled as I went to intercept the culprit. “Who is that?” “Sam” What are you doing?” Then he came running back up with a ninja turtle stuffed animal under his arm. I started to say, “Now Sam, you are too old to have to have a stuffed animal to go to bed with.” But without saying anything, he went into his room and put the stuffed animal under Fred’s arm (Fred was already asleep). Then he jumped into bed and said, “There, now when Fred wakes up, he will be really really happy.”

Sam has been busy making people happy ever since. When i spoke with Tom Bainter, Celestial Football Coach, Tom said that it was such a privilege to have Sam on his team, not because he was such a fine football player, but because he was an extraordinary person and leader. He always will be.