Happy 12th Birthday Sam!

Sam – Happy birthday big guy! This past year you graduated from elementary school and got ready for middle school. You loved your time in fifth grade. Mrs. Treadway was your teacher. You really liked her and of course, she loved you! You are smart, witty, funny, and good. You wear your heart on your sleeve and treat people like they do too! You are kind and genuine. You are still best friends with Karl. When you are at school, you are like two peas in a pod. I think if I would let you walk the five blocks to his house, you would be like peas in a pod at home too! Unfortunately, for you, I am just not ready to let you go that far. I would be lost without my Sambo! You are still playing soccer and Dad is still your coach which means that you still play for the Fighting Irish. I don’t know that you love soccer but you take it in stride, give your best, and make me proud. I love to watch you out there. My sweet little Sam being aggressive! You had your appendix removed this year. The nurse called me from school and said that you were complaining of a stomach ache. She said that you didn’t have a fever, hadn’t thrown up but that you just looked like you felt bad. I think you have the magic touch with that nurse. So, I picked you up. After a couple of hours you still didn’t feel well. I didn’t know what to do. I thought that maybe it was the flu so I took you to urgent care for some medicine. Well, to our surprise, it was your appendix. You and I spent the night at the hospital and the next day, you had surgery. You got an IV and it totally creeped you out. You named it Phil I guess to try and make it a little less scary and gross. The surgery went great and you were home that day. You were really creeped out by your scars at first. Now, they are just your reminders of your bravery and that time they actually “removed an organ” from your body. I put that in quotes because you make a point of reminding Will that his surgery wasn’t nearly as bad as yours because he didn’t have an actual “organ removed”! You also got braces this year. You were excited about the idea about 5 months before getting the braces but of course, once it was time to put them on, you were not super jazzed. There was some major complaining and a lot of milkshakes for the first few days but you made it through. You still have quite a while before they come off but your smile is already so much brighter! Sam, you are a delight. You run the spectrum of emotions. At times, that is frustrating for me. Other times it brings me joy. Sometimes it makes me ache for you. You are pure and honest. You feel guilt from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. You are all heart, and I love that. You make me laugh, and you make me proud. I love you Sam! Happy Birthday!