I found a gift bag on my front porch from the McClain family. Sam was in grade school, about third grade, when he began studying voice and theatre with me. There were goodies in the bag as well as this terrific collage with photos of Sam and I throughout the years. As you can see from some of the photos, I used to be the taller of the two of us but about five years ago he caught up with me in height and like his brother, Max, surpassed me.

Well, we are now on the final leg of our journey as Sam begins the second semester of his senior year of high school. It’s bittersweet, to say the least, and it is not something unfamiliar to me in thirty-eight years of teaching, but when you have students from grade school through their senior year graduation, it’s always a sad moment for me. But, Sam has been a unique student in many ways, and our work together has also been unique in many ways. For several years, a number of my Muse Machine students talked about this boy they’d nicknamed “Darin Junior” without realizing he was one of my students.

Sam is the kind of young man you’d want for a son. He possesses so many wonderful qualities, outstanding leadership, music and theatre talent, and a huge heart to name a few.

It will be a treat to follow Sam’s college career and his life career but oh, how I will miss this young fellow.

Know you are loved, Sam…