My best friend story was a wonderful experience, but it does not have a happy ending. My family moved within Scottsbluff when I was 12 and I was angry with my parents because I didn't know anyone in the new neighborhood. As a 12 year old, you feel like your world just ended. Sam Clem showed up outside my house on his bike and asked if she had any kids his age. My mom called me out and introduced me. Sam asked if I wanted to go ride bikes and it began.

We were friends all through Junior High. We played in band together, spent hours together after school and on the weekends, spent countless hours riding bikes, playing kick the can, football, basketball and anything we could find to do. I knew from the start I could trust him with anything, and he in turn taught me to be the kind of person he could trust.
Through high school, we continued to spend time with our group of friends and spent so much time together that we became more like brothers than just friends. The rest of the guys were lifelong friends as well. We have spread all over the country, but every once in awhile, we still connect. Mike Strong, Mike Henderson, Kenton Schaff, Doug Harris, Rodney Snell, Lynn Anthony and more were a part of that group, and to this day, I have no doubt that if I called on those guys needing help, they would do whatever was within their power to help me.

I went to college in Lincoln, and he is Laramie. That didn't keep us apart. I went to Laramie a few times, and he came to Lincoln a few times. We would spend breaks and Summers together in Scottsbluff and it seemed just like old times. My first job after graduating the University was in Massachusetts and miraculously, he took a job in Massachusetts as well, about 50 minutes away. The support system made both of us better at being so far away from the life we knew.

Over the years, we made it a point to go fishing every year with the group, and when our boys were old enough, we added a second trip with just the dads and the sons. Sam and I talked about twice a week for years and years. Our sons know each other and knew they could count on either one of us for advice. Sam was even my financial counselor and called on me to help him with whatever real estate endeavors he might have.

As the years went by, it became obvious that things weren't right with my best friend. Stories started not to add up, he became more distant, friends started telling me he owed them money and wasn't reliable for them. He was still reliable for me, but I knew something was wrong. Sam was succumbing to the disease he could not control - addiction. His family had known for years that he had a problem, but he was good about hiding it and for years didn't drink during business hours, so he remained pretty functional before 5:00 p.m. When he lost his mom and then his dad, things got worse.

He probably never did truly bottom out, if you can believe it. He lost his license, his business, his belongings and his money. He struggled with not only the alcohol but with the truth. I stayed a part as much as he would let me, including driving 6 hours to take him to treatment and trying to get him to stay at the rehab facility. He agreed at that time to go to a different city where he had been a part of AA. I thought it was at least a start, but I was naive. He was already to far gone.

He ended up homeless and living in a park in South Dakota. We found him, got him cleaned up and he moved to South Carolina to live with his sister. While there, things started looking better, but he had other plans. He moved back to Laramie, Wyoming, where he told us of his plans of taking graduate classes and working for the University and the booster club that he was once the President of. As it turns out, those were all stories, and he never acted on those things.

Sam died in a week to week motel that was being covered by his sister. He was completely estranged from the rest of his family. His organs just started shutting down because of the years of alchohol abuse. When we got the word, I drove from my home in Kearney, NE to Denver to pick up his son at the airport. We drove to Laramie to claim the body and make arrangements for his remains. It was a horrible ending to a beautiful friendship, but by being there for his son, I got to show the same loyalty and caring that Sam taught me was important my whole life.

I remain a changed man for having known him. Someone who knows the value of friendship, loyalty, empathy and caring. I keep touch with his son - who looks like the spitting image of him - to remind him of the person his dad was. His son carries a lot of similar attributes, and is kind, thoughtful and loyal. He is turning into a great man. I wish Sam could be here to see it. I will never forget the friendship I cherished with that 12 year old boy that showed up on the law of our new house and asked if I wanted to go bike riding. He will be with me forever.

Not all friendship stories are completely smooth, but that is what teaches us to tolerate others, make up when things go wrong and stay loyal to those we truly care about.
To this day, I have no regrets. I miss him terribly, but I carry him inside me every day. He was instrumental in making me who I am.