Remembering Sam

Losing Sam was a defining moment in our family’s life. It seems like yesterday he was with us: young, vibrant, and full of life. But we have come to understand life continues even if sometimes it feels as though there is no way it should. The sad reality is Sam’s passing is more than ten years but less than twenty. As with each of the more than ten years, we continue to reflect on the life we cherish and the things we hold dear – like the twenty years we did have with Sam, but we are too often reminded of the painful impact the disease on young people in our communities and their families.

To this day, Sam’s appreciation for each day of his short-yet-full life is a resounding testament to the fragility and beauty of our human experience. We are so grateful to have this legacy to carry with us forever and to motivate our efforts in supporting pediatric cancer research. We cannot express fully our most sincere thank you to those who support our endeavors and to those who continue to cherish Sam’s memory just as much as we do. His life left an impact on our lives that is dwarfed only by the impact of his absence. Your continued support and love for Sam’s life assuages our grief.

Beyond the memory of Sam, our family is continuously heart-broken to hear of the impact the disease that took him from us is having on young people within our community and their families. For what is called a “rare” bone cancer, its mark feels all too common. This feeling motivates us even further to continue our commitment to finding a cure for these young people, who deserve a full life ahead of them. For Sam, we are grateful cancer research gave us four years of remission. As we reflect on the anniversary of Sam’s passing, we send our most heartfelt sympathies to the families that are in the grips of what we felt on this day over ten years ago. Then and now, our work, Sam’s legacy, and the legacy of every child lost to childhood cancer, is not done.

In the past twelve years, your support and our efforts for Sam’s fund within CURE have raised more than $950,000 towards childhood cancer research. Together, our work has funded five Sam Robb fellows who are providing care for children in five different states. Furthermore, we continue to support the Open Arms Program which provides meals for patients and families while in the hospital and are expanding our efforts to support the Partners in Care Counseling Program which provides counseling services to patients and families affected by childhood cancer. We look forward to the coming year with hope and optimism as we seek to surpass our one-million-dollarmark and continue to make in impact on the young people we admire and miss so dearly.

Thank you for your love and support these past twelve years; we hope that you will continue to join us as we battle childhood cancer with committed doctors searching for targeted treatments.

With Hope,

Sam, Annamarie, Liz, Caroline & Katherine