Samuel

Ride Day 1 - AV200 - May 19, 2012 - Dedicated to Samuel

As I mentioned earlier, I have 14 days on the bike during this journey and have been honored to be introduced to 14 precious lives that we are all missing out on today. For the first day of the ride, Samuel was my new friend. It seemed appropriate because he was the partner of a close colleague of mine at Emory and his birthday would have been celebrated on May 20th - the following day. Samuel and I are both Taurus in terms of astrological categories if you're into that stuff. So I assume it would be good to have another "bull buddy" with me on the first day. Good thing, too!

Samuel's partner shared the following with me: Samuel passed away on January 15, 1996 from AIDS. He was my partner for nine years. H

e was an incredible giving person and left us too soon. Samuel was from Beirut, Lebanon, he left on vacation to London in the 70s and while he was there, war broke out and his father advised him to not come back. Samuel went on to earn a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Edinburgh and immigrated to the United States and work for CDC as a Scientist until he passed away. Samuel was a best friend to many, he would give you the shirt off his back. He was also a great cook and got great joy from having people over to our house for many great dinners. His mother taught him very well and he was a great cook of middle eastern foods. He was not your typical scientist, he enjoyed music and played the guitar, he was always very fashion forward. A trait of the Middle East, he was quick to give his opinion, even if you did not want to hear, but most times it was what needed to be said. His death was very hard on his mother who came to live with us the last 6 months of his life. I continue to be in contact with his family in Beirut, his mother passed away about two year ago. His sister lives in Beirut and his two nieces currently live in Dubai with their children.

From a personal note, I think we're all missing out. As I rode to Rock Eagle for the first 107 miles of the journey, I realized I was starving around mile 90 and had to imagine that we would have a meal prepared by Samuel when we finally arrived at camp. It gave me a chuckle as well as a realization - no, you won't - he's the reason you're doing this. So we stop missing out on getting to know the Samuel's of the world.

Happy Birthday, Samuel. You're legacy lives on and we will fight this battle for you.