Sam: August 2005 Archives

Sam says this used to be one of his nicknames. He's not that skinny now! Not as solid as he was when he could get around on his own legs though. He's been feeling better the past two days. I saw him last night and he was feeling good, tonight too. He got some sad news yesterday from the Vecchiatti's, so we've been doing a bit of sad together. :-(

Right now he's working Sue the nurse over to sign his guestbook. The advantage of having a laptop here is I can post directly! We'll see - he's thinking of keeping it . . . I need to do some negotiating with the staff though to really help him with it once in awhile. We were lucky to have some kind souls come in from the outside to do it this summer while I was gone.

Thanks for the comments from Wes, Cicely, Bea and Jennifer. Sam also got emails from David and Nona. Sam says, "Keep 'em coming!"

Poor Sam. He was all huddled up in blankets, coughing and feeling all-around miserable when I saw him yesterday. :-( (He did brighten up a bit seeing me, grin.) He must have got sick right after Lee visited. But he sure enjoyed gallivanting all over town with you! Saw your comment, Lee, when you were with him last time. Jennifer posted there too, so you should all catch up on the news!

He asked about folks, and says hi to everyone, and so loves it when you do write. It is tough for him to say much back. I know it might be frustrating for those of you who want a specific response. All I can say is Sam loves you and it means the world to him to hear from you. He wishes each of you the very best.

Paul L posted a note to Sam, with the email address back to iputney.com. Check it out!

and Karen dropped a note that her mom, fondly known as Omi, was born in Mannheim, 1911, right where I was last week! She adds, "My grandfather was the town planner and architect in Ludwigshafen," which is right next door.

Gosh - I have just been too hectic lately! (In fieldwork they call it the snowball effect.)

Sam and I had a videochat on Sunday evening with James' superb assistance. It was OBVIOUS the very second Sam came into view that he was feeling GREAT! It was pretty cool to see, because his energy has been low most times we've chatted. He said he'd been feeling that good for a few days, had taken a trip, and was just overall doing well.

He did get tired of trying to speak, so James and I would chat intermittently and Sam would eavesdrop. Then we'd chat directly some more. That system seemed to work pretty well. If anyone is in the area and can squeeze in a visit, it might be a very good time! (Of course, you know Sam always enjoys company.

Hugs to all!

Hey everyone,

I videochatted with Sam from Berlin last week, he looked good and sounded ok. He was tired (I caught him without warning just as he was getting ready to take a nap), but we had a nice conversation. He wanted to tell me some German word or phrase that Edith always signs her letters with – neither Jess nor I could make it out. Me trying to pronounce German is a bit scary. :-) so we don’t have a translation – anyone wanna help us out?