WC #14: Happy Birthday Samuel!

Well... writing this blog has certainly taught me one thing.  I don't have enough pictures of my sons-in-law.  In fact, if it weren't for FaceBook or blogs, I probably wouldn't have ANY digital pictures of any of them! Unfortunately, since Meg doesn't blog, my pictures of my son-in-law, Samuel Aboagye are VERY rare!

But, a lack of pictures doesn't stop me from wishing Samuel K Aboagye a VERY happy birthday today!  Samuel brought a special uniqueness with him to the family.  When my daughter Meg left for Washington DC to do an internship while studying at BYU-Hawaii announced that she was off "to become the Queen of Ghana," none of us had any idea how close to the truth that statement was.  While attending school, Meg had, joined the Ghanaian Club as one of her requirements at school to become more culturally diverse.  She grew to love the Ghanaian culture and made many friends.  Some of them lived in Washington, DC and it was through them, she met Sam, at a native American PowWow!

Samuel was born to the King or Chief of their tribe and his fifth wife.  By tradition, being the son who most resembled his father, he was to become the king when his father died.  Having become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and after serving a mission in Nigeria, Samuel decided to leave that destiny behind and come to America, where he met Meg!  

Although he came to America, he has kept his heritage strong with his children and has introduced the family to a different world!

Baby Cari showing her heritage!

Through their young lives, the children have had an array of Ghanaian made clothing, Meg has had beautiful Ghanaian dresses and even I have been the recipient of 3 beautiful dresses!  Even their temple sealing celebrated the culture as Samuel and all his groomsmen sported traditional Ghanaian wedding apparel.  It was kind of funny to see four pasty white guys all dressed up for a Ghanaian wedding, but they all wore it well!  Man!  I wish I had some digital pictures!  Time to dig into my photo boxes and have some transferred to CD so perhaps I can add them later!

Sam loves to work out.  He loves to sing.  He loves to decorate his home, especially with Ghanaian art.  Like all the other men in the family, he also loves all things electronic!

He's scared to death of water and had a hard time when Meg enrolled the kids in swim lessons.  Not too sure how he's doing with Sarai on the swim team! The REALLY funny thing about Sam's fear of water was his passion for the Jet Skis when we had a summer family reunion in 2008 at Bear Lake in Utah!  He was very leery of spending time on the lake and in the pool, but once we got him on the Jet Ski, we had a dickens of a time getting him off!!!  He even volunteered to be the one to drive one back to the office to turn it in at the end of the day and he took the scenic route to do it!  Guess it just goes to show that when it comes to speed even water phobia takes a back seat.

Sam has also always had a special place in his heart for kids.  He's a good dad; very strict with high expectations of his children; but whenever there was a new baby in the family, he would be the one to want to hold them and pacify them.

The Aboagye Kids, Summer 2013
Jonas, Cari & Sarai

Although he's a sharp dresser, he's had some unfortunate wardrobe experiences dressing his kids when Mom wasn't around and I must say, I've seen the girls suffer through a few hairdos that scream "Dad did it!" but he tried.  Things were much easier when Jonas came along; Sam could just buzz his head and he looked handsome!

At any rate, although Meg & Sam have chosen to go their separate ways, they find they're much better friends than they were husband and wife and the winners are the kids.  They work together well to make sure the kids are taken care of and the kids are still able to celebrate their special days with both of their parents in a happy atmosphere.

So, Sam, with that, I'll just say that I hope your special day was fabulous and I hope that when you, Meg & Jonas get to celebrate your birthdays together in a few weeks it will be the best one ever!!!  Happy Birthday, Sam.  I love you.