Sam & baby Buddy

We met Sam Romero six years, or so, back when he was doing time at the Ft. Lyon Correctional Facility near Las Animas, Colorado. What a place! Originally built as a V.A. hospital the state converted into a medium security prison, it looked and often felt more like a college campus than a corrections facility. What a fishing hole this was!

Sam was one of the inmates Jesus had His hook in deep making his presence on the yard and in the housing units an infectious influence that brought peace where tension often brewed. We heard it from staff as well as the men.

Upon his release we were blessed to meet our brother at the gate, arms raised and shouting, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty I’m free at last!” What a treat it was to celebrate over smiles and great Mexican food!

From there on out, Sam refused to let us spend money on motel rooms when Rick DiMuccio and I did overnighters at either Ark Valley or Ft. Lyon prisons. His humble digs were ours, insisting I take his bed, Rick the couch and Sam the recliner. What a guy, who then was up early letting the dogs out and making a breakfast of chorizo and eggs with green chili when he had it. We felt like kings.

I’m still in shock over Sam’s death, but years of abuse in our good friend’s B.C. days took their toll and his liver shut down Monday morning April 1st. Our family has a live-in memorial whose name is Buddy, a beagle-rottweiler we

got from brother Sam roughly four years ago who, as my wife says, is our little “lovey boy.”

                                                      He’s got Sam’s smile!

dan robinson  4/2013