I had the great opportunity to learn from and know more about a great friend of the EMC, John Cohn, over the past several years.  One of the stories John shared to us a while ago told touched our hearts.  In short, pulled from his website, this is the short story:

Sam was an exuberant boy with a 1000 watt smile. He loved his friends, family, dog, and bird deeply. Sam was passionate about guitar, snowboarding, lacrosse, and having fun. Yes, having fun was important to Sam.

Springtime meant lacrosse for Sam and a time to play hard with his buddies. Ultimate frisbee at the park were memorable times for Sam and he would come home with a big smile on his face and grass stains on his body. Summers you could find Sam floating down the rivers, swinging from a rope swing, biking, or just hanging with friends. A summer would be complete with time spent at Camp Abnaki and jamming at Burlington Rock Camp. Fall would be the season Sam would try and stretch summer out a little bit more until the snow started to come. That time was then spent at Bolton Valley Resort on his snowboard. He enjoyed ariel tricks and hitting the rails. Mostly he enjoyed just hanging with his friends and little brother Gabe.

Sam loved music and was always plugged into some song. Guitar was second nature to Sam. He could play “Asturias” on his classical guitar to heavy metal on his Gibson. He enjoyed playing bass and wailing on the drums. His favorite times were when he would jamming with one of his friends, or his big brother Max.
It is hard to capture Sam’s true spirit in a few paragraphs. He taught us so much. Mostly he taught us to have fun, ease up, and to be there for each other. He is a true best friend to many and deeply missed.

Sam was born on May 28, 1992. He was hit by a car on November 20, 2006 in Florida while visiting friends. His beautiful body stayed strong long enough for organ donation. He gave his heart, liver, kidney, and kidney-pancreas so that four others would live. His spirit continues on through them and surrounds us today. Sam lived his life to its fullest on this planet.

To help with Sam's passing, John and his family create what are called SamStones.  Here's a short description, found on his website, of what they are:

SamStones are made with love by Sam’s friends and family. Our intent with these stones is to pass on some of that love.  If you have found a SamStone please feel free to keep it, move it or pass it on. We hope that you will pause and feel the love that is being passed on to you. 

If you would like to know more about Sam Stones, you can find out more here:  http://www.samestone.org/.  Corinn and I wanted to contribute, so we were given a bag of stones from Diane, John's wife, and will now bring them on our McBe Adventures.  My goal is to, as accurately as possible, track where I placed them with a photos of the location and to document that location within something like Google Maps.  So if you see future posts of SamStones, you'll know that we've traveled recently.  Below is our first map of where we placed many Sam Stones while in the UK.  Click on each marker, as the map is interactive, to learn more about the location we placed the stone and a short story of the site.  You can even change the terrain, move the map around, and zoom in and out!

Below are photos where we visited with Sam being part of the shots.  We tried placing Sam where we though he'd have a great view of the locations we visited.  Some shots were difficult to obtain while others we though were really great.  We figured this would be good to compliment the map above as a way to visually see more of where we traveled with him.  Hope you enjoy them! 

In my travels, I enjoy observing phrases, graphics or signs that can be interpreted in ways not originally intended, the context is lost when observed from a different culture, or are just plain hilarious.  The photos taken below are just a few I was able to capture.

Apparently this town hates pink...

I disagree... I think it looks like a ton of fun!

Disputably one of my favorite FYI's I've ever seen outside a home.  

 

I just thought this was cute.

Just in case you had no idea where to find Pottery... I took this for Joe Manley figuring he'd appreciate it quite a bit.

I hate it when my defences have depleted!

Just in case you were looking for some Fire Action, this might satisfy your need.

Whiskey often needs patiences and this sign reafirms that need.

The Appocolypse is near!

Wait for it... wait for it...

...Now things make sense!

I don't know why, but this sign caught my eye... Mostly because I don't think I've had a pink olive before...?

It's a long story, but I got kicked off the boat...

I don't know why I find this funny... Maybe it's because the store is call the Green Welly?

If you look carefully, the two signs litterally put me in two different areas, not far appart from each other; which one do I go to?  Does it matter?!?!

Mind the gap with such grace!

I don’t understand why, but I’ve been very saddened by Michael Jackson’s passing since the day I heard the news.  I’ve been reading almost everything on the web about him and have been somewhat in denial about his death.  I've also been listening to his music as often as I have the opportunity.  Maybe it's because I've been interested in his music since I was a child... Listening to him as often or more than my parents, who greatly enjoyed his music as well.  The music always gave me chills up my back just because they were well orchestrated, written, and most notabily, sung by a genius.

I’ve always wanted to dance and sing like Michael, but that never happened.  Yet, other things about him inspired me to be/think like him.  I think his generosity and kindness towards people contributed to that.  I’ve never been one to look too much into his personal life because I felt the music alone drew my attention towards his cause to make a difference.  One of my favorite songs I try to live by is “Man in the Mirror”; I think the follow words are something to live by:


Rest in Peace and thanks Michael for inspiring me to do what I try to do on a daily basis.