Sumo

On Sunday, Dec. 6, 2008, as I picked up Baby L from the church nursery, I got a text from a friend letting me know her brother had a stroke and had lost feeling in one of his legs.

Back in the spring, this same friend of mine was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Shortly after finding the testicular cancer, they found tumors in his brain. You see, Sumo had gone undiagnosed with cancer for about a year or two. By the time the doctors had diagnosed it, he was a late stage of cancer. He went through chemo treatments and started planning his wedding for October. As October approached they moved the wedding date to February so he would be complete with his chemo and radiation treatment. When they started the radiation, they found it was increasing the size of his tumors, so they stopped treatment and he was sent home.

On Dec. 9, I made a surprise visit to see him in the hospital. The only people that knew I was going was my husband and my mother-in-law. The only reason I was driving 5 hours to my home town was to visit Sumo in the hospital. I didn't tell anyone that I was going because my visit was purely for the sake of visiting with him. I wasn't there long and a best friend of mine from high school showed up. It was nice to be able to visit and reminisce. We visited for 4 overs and many memories were recalled, memories that I had long forgotten. It was nice to see that some people never do change. I would have loved to stay longer, but I needed to go home to my family.

This morning, I got a phone call and a text message letting me know Sumo passed away last night. The doctors said he was getting better. He had started walking. He was no longer in the hospital, but was home. He was planning to get married next month. He had just got custody of his beautiful two year old daughter. Everything seemed to be going good. Sumo had even started planning a benefit to help others so they wouldn't go through the same thing he went through.

Sumo had a heart of gold and I don't know if there was a single person that had any ill feelings toward him. He was liked and loved by all. He seemed to be everyone's best friend. He knew how to make everyone smile, even if he did it at his expense. He will always be remembered.

My heart and prayers go out to his sister, that lost her mother and Bubba within a couple of months of each other, his fiance, that will never get to walk down the aisle with a wonderful man and friend, and his beautiful daughter that will only know how great how dad was through other people's eyes.

In memory of Michael "Sumo" Sams
You will be missed by everyone that knew you.