Saying goodbye to a great friend!!

:cheers:Howdy all, cosgig here! It is with a Very heavy heart that I am posting this thread, but I feel that I need a little support from my friends here!! I had to say goodbye today to one of the best friends a person could have, my main man Sammy Lee Uphaus!! Sam was tragically killed last Saturday while doing what he loved best...riding his motorcycle! I won't go into details about that, but would just like to share a little bit about him!!

Sam was a major influence on so many people's lives, and especially mine! He taught me many things about cars, bikes, life, and how to be a man, and to always be a man of my word!

When I was building him a shop, I saw a little old 66 Barracuda left behind by the previous owner of the property! He had been trying to buy that car for years, but the old guy wouldn't sell! He told me good luck, but don't hold your breath when I told him I wanted to buy it! 10 minutes and $400 dollars later, it was mine! Sam was so glad that he informed me that it would be our first project in his new shop!! 22 years later, our work together has been proudly displayed at car shows, cruise ins, and yes, that's the little 66 in my avatar!!

Always willing and ready to talk cars, bikes, life or whatever, we had a lot of conversations about all of that! He loved my GTX so much that for 2 summers I dropped it off at his house for him to enjoy, and enjoy it he did!! He was a career man at the Chrysler Proving Grounds, where the car was put on display out in the front pen, where all passers by could see it! Alway returned a little better was his way, and always with a suggestion of what "we" should do to it next!!

Not often do you encounter the kinds of friends that Sam was to so many people, and he is going to be missed by everybody who knew him! Don't know how I'm going to do without him, but ill have to draw on the many things he shared with me, and ill have to do my best to make him proud!! Thanks for everything old buddy, gonna miss you something awful!!

Geof