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I say the kinds of things that kept me out of the really GOOD colleges. Welcome to my madness. Hope you stay awhile...
What an AWESOME tribute, lil bro! I can FEEL the love, the pain, and the longing for your "Gene Wider"...
ReplyDeleteYou DEFINITELY did him justice with your words and your heart.
It seems odd that he didn't reach out to any of his beloved, "Cruisers," during his last days. Maybe he wasn't able to, or maybe he just wanted y'all to remember him at his best, like in the good ole days...
Who knows... But as u said, ".... that is/was Sam..."
P. S. You didn't get to speak at his funeral, but it's probably better this wary...
No one wants to see an old man, crying and dripping snot all over the the church podium....lol.
You are TRULY blessed, my friend!
Ok, dude, you've got me cracking up over here, even though I'm still in tears. Proofreading it made me smile, but got me crying again. I miss him so much, Jake. It's just not fair.
DeleteI'm glad you feel that I did right by him. He deserved the best I had to offer, with the Holy Spirit keeping me grounded through it all.
And no, I wouldn't have dripped anything on the podium because I'd have blacked out like I was at an old southern Baptist funeral and my wig would have fallen off!
Love you, my brother. Miss you.
Too funny....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhEaWem4ng
You're the best!!
LMAO! Dude! She completely spun out like a top!
DeleteKenneth, this was wonderful to read. The occasion is sad, but this was nice. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe way my mind works, I have a hard time remembering things, unless there are triggers that bring back the memories. Your words did that for me. Laughs, explosives, Benny Hill...it comes flooding back.
Let me share my favorite memory of an accidental misadventure with Sam and some of the gang.
We were riding back from Purdue Cal in Sam's car (really, his father's car) one fine sunny afternoon. I think it was an old Plymouth, or Dodge, or Ford, one of those old box cars. Looked like it was made in the old Soviet Union, before they had things like quality control or safety concerns.
And so there were four of us, Sam, Steve, me, and I can't really remember the 4th, was it Dude, Drew, Bob...? That just won't come to me.
Anyway, we're riding along and BSing as usual when all of a sudden "THUNK!!!" There was a huge, loud noise from the bottom of the car! Sam had just ridden over an old wooden pallet!
Never mind why it was there, was the car okay? We figured yeah, cause we are still moving, no strange sounds from the car, we're not on fire... Just as we started to settle down, the engine starts to sputter and cough. Then it cuts out and we are dead on the side of the road. I guess maybe that thing did do some damage.
Anyway, we get out and smell gasoline. While Sam gets down and examines the belly of the beast, we start looking back behind the car. We see this wet streak from way back leading up to the back of the car. And Sam says, "Shit, there's a hole in the gas tank." Something like that, I'm sure there were more expletives.
A 1/2 inch gash was in the tank, we are lucky we didn't go up in flames. Good for us. But still, we are stuck on the side of the road, about two miles home with a damaged car. Time to push boys.
And so we do, with Sam, Mr "I didn't see it in the middle of the road there," driving. Actually, I think he was pushing too, while steering through the driver's side window. And even if he was driving, I remember feeling bad for him. I mean, he had to tell his dad what happened.
Anyway, it couldn't get worse, right? Of course it could.
There we were, pushing, moseying down Kennedy Ave towards Chicago Ave by the side of the train tracks. Sweating, thirsty, we had to look like complete losers. And then from behind, there came the sirens.
Yep, we were being pulled over.
By a Fire Engine.
I guess we had created a road hazard with all that spilled gas.
So after explaining what happened, and they made sure we were empty, they let us continue our slow process back home. At least we can say, "Hey, a fire truck pulled me over once for moving too slow!"
Anyway, as we got close to home, Sam decided to park two blocks away from his house. He said his Dad was going to kill him. And we all said, man, we'll go with you and explain. But he said no, it would be better if he did it alone. He felt it was his to deal with, and he did.
Turns out, it ended up going rather well with his Dad, but the fact that he was going to own up to it on his own, well, that tells you who Sam was.
We need to get together, do our own thing for Sam. I regret having to hear this news to realize how much I missed him. And how much I miss you guys.
No one of us should have to leave this earth without having gone so long without seeing the others. Let that be Sam's last gift to us, a lesson we should heed and learn.
Tony, my brother, you are exactly right. We need to get together, and soon. It's so sad that a tragedy is often what brings people together. Makes me feel like we're living a movie.
DeleteThank you for sharing such a hilarious story. I could see every moment of it, along with your individual facial expressions throughout the ordeal. I can also hear the unmentioned things you all might have said when you realize he hit that pallet. Dude! A PALLET?? LOL
One question. Did it TRULY go "rather well with his dad" or did he TELL you that?
Anyway, thanks again for such a great tribute. I wish to God I could have been there with you guys...
Love you, man.
I tell you, it was a non-thing for him. Sam said that he was nervous and what not when he finally told his dad a day or two later. He was really worried about it, so much so that's why we "parked" the car two blocks away. Like if his dad saw the car, his x-ray vision would tell him the gas tank was punctured. Maybe he just was thinking, there's no way I'm letting him get in that car before I tell him myself.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Mr H said for Sam to lead him to the car, he looked at the tank, went home, came back with some gum kind of stuff, plugged the damn hole and that was the end of it. After all of that, it was a non-event!
But I never got back into that car again. I'd rather walk, LOL!
If you were there, it would have been that much more awesome, then and now in the retelling!
My brother, I'm still laughing, thinking about it. It was awesome and has inspired me to write a blog post about The Cruisers in general. And if I was there, I would have said something to agitate the situation and TRULY get Sam in trouble. Because I'm "Kenny". lol
DeleteThank you again. Miss the hell out of you, man.
Kenny great tribute. I’m the cousin from Toronto so I didn’t see Sam as much but we vacationed together several times and had a blast. Summer of 1987 he spent about a month with us and we partied like it was 1999. His pick up line that summer was “ hey baby how’d you like to touch my fuck pole?” Everybody loved Sam. He had that sly sneaky look and he seemed to always be up to something.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to miss him. I’m going to miss talking to him. I miss him a lot.
His mother is devastated as well as his brother.
May his memory be eternal and bring a smile to all who knew and loved him.
Ok, Sam's pickup line probably got him zero phone numbers and about 70 slaps. LOL. But that was Sam.
DeleteI'll call Sam's mother and Demetrius tomorrow. Thank you so much for forwarding the information and for the wonders conversation. God bless.
Man....reading this I feel like I knew the man without really knowing him because of your description and stories. It seems as if he had a great spirit and I'm sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your love and kind words. I think what's most important is that we all recognize the "Sam" in our lives and let him do his thing. Life is nothing without laughter!
DeleteKenny, I don't think I ever met you, but I knew Sam fairly well . We were classmates and Senior Design Project partners at Purdue. Your tribute was phenomenal! Clearly you are a true friend and real brother to Sam. I am only learning of hi passing as I tried to look him up and see if I could connect with him. Very sad to see I won't be able to do that. I also also very sorry I missed his service. I don't know how he passed, and can only hope it was peaceful.
ReplyDeleteSam, me and many other classmates from Purdue hung out regularly n those days, playing poker in my apartment on Alexander Ave (near school), playing racquetball on a weekly basis and even starting a softball team that I believe Sam named "The Bushwackers", and he wasn't referring to plants or trees! The numerous nights we spent at La Rosa's is also vivid in my memory.
Sam was a great friend and classmate and and the world will be less of a place without him in it! Your tribute brought back so many memories of his quick wit and humbleness. He wold do anytime for anybody who asked.
I hope others from his college days were aware and were able to make his service. I remember Steve Homco, and also Mike Bratcher, John Toma, Kerry Farney , Don Britton and Mark McDonald to name a few. jmorgan911@comcast.net.
RIP Sam!
Wow. I had no idea Sam had passed. We were college friends and one of the funniest people I have ever met. His imitations of various people were spot on and hysterical. I often wondered if Sam should have forgotten about engineering and went into comedy!
ReplyDelete