In honor of the 5 year anniversary of Sam Robb‘s passing, his three sisters have written reflections of their brother. We hope that you enjoy the beautiful words that these young women have provided.
Sam was more than a big brother to me. He was my best friend, and I could always count on him to understand me, in any type of situation. It may seem silly, but my memories of Sam always portray him in an iconic superhero-like manner. To clear up misunderstanding, I don’t think of him wearing a costume or a cape. Rather, I think of him as being the type of person I would hope to be: strong, courageous, universally amicable, and supportive. He was the type of guy everyone wants as a best friend; and, honestly, Sam had a way of making everyone feel like they actually were his best friends. Sam truly epitomized the characteristic of being able brighten up a room merely with one’s presence. His smile, his laughter, and his ever present comical relief made my brother the perfect companion for any occasion. Growing up with Sam taught me many things, but first and foremost, Sam taught me to live my life. Good times and bad times will come my way, but all I can do is live my life to the best of my ability. Through his life, and his death, Sam made me a better person; and, I will forever be grateful for that.
- Caroline, 21 years old
June 25th 2012, marks the day 5 years ago that my brother Sam was called to heaven. It is truly amazing that Sam was able to accomplish everything that was placed upon him by God in the mere 20 years and 7 months he was with us on Earth. Sam was a friend, hero, patient, son, but Caroline, Katherine, and I could not be more proud to call him our brother. He changed all of our lives for the better and truly made us the people that we are today.
One of the greatest memories that I will always keep close to my heart was when Sam and I went on a visit to Clemson together. After I had signed with Clemson on a rowing scholarship and his best friend from Young Harris, Matt Sanders, signed to play for Clemson on a baseball scholarship Sam was not going to let anything get in his way from joining Matt and I at Clemson in the Fall of 2007. Sam and I had begged my mom to allow me to play hooky from school for the day so that we could go to Clemson together; his reasoning was to go and speak with the admissions department to figure out some way he would be able to be granted acceptance and mine was solely to be there as his wing-man. I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better than to go off to college to pursue what I loved most, rowing, with my older brother right there by my side.
After hours of persuasion on our side the admissions department granted Sam acceptance to Clemson University in the Fall of 2007 under one condition, he discard the original plan to study Kinesiology and become a Sociology major. From that day on we would not stop talking about how great our time we planned to spend at Clemson together would be. He talked of coming out to the rowing regattas and becoming one of the first tailgaters and die hard fans for the rowing team, seeing as though we did not bring as large of a crowd to the lake as the football, basketball, or baseball teams brought to their selective playing fields. Sadly, as you all are aware of Sam did not live to see the first day of school that upcoming fall nor did he accompany me to the football, baseball, and rowing events. Although he was not there physically I knew he was there with me every step of the way, which is why still to this day everything I do I try to honor him and what he believed in most “Fightin Till The Last Breath” and to never give up especially because you never know who is watching. On June 25, 2007 we not only lost a brother, son, friend, teammate but we also lost a true hero. He inspired everyone big or small strong or weak to never give up whether they were battling for their life in their hospital bed or out on the playing field.
I am proud to call Sam my brother and my hero. He may be gone but his legacy and impact on this world still stand true and will never be forgotten. From my family to yours, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the outpouring of support over the past 5 years. We have come so far in the fight against Childhood Cancer and we refuse to stop until a cure to all childhood cancers is found.
As this day is filled with sadness by many it is also a day to reflect on the great strides we have made with the Sam Robb Fund to one day finding a cure to childhood cancer.
- Liz, 22 years old
To this day, the greatest compliment I can ever be given is that I look, act, talk, walk, laugh, do anything like my brother. It brings me a sense of satisfaction like nothing else because for as long as I can remember I idolized him. If he was Dr. Evil, I was honorably his Mini Me and I loved it. When he walked into a room, something changed. He would effortlessly bring an essence of humor and happiness. Sometimes when he would just wake up or get home, I would watch cartoons with him or watch him eat cereal. We wouldn’t talk a lot or say much, but it was always so much fun for me. And when he would need something and ask me to get it saying, “I’ll time you!” I would sprint off and come back begging for my time. 
It’s hard to explain, especially since I was pretty young then, but something about him brought ease to me. My favorite thing to do when he was gone was to sleep in his bed, because I just felt so safe the nightmares that often haunted me were lost. Maybe it all started in the back of the big red suburban (Big Red) when all 6 of us would drive 12 hours to the beach. Being the smallest, I was always put in the way back with Sam. He would take up the whole back seat and I would be stuck under his feet, thus the beginning of a great bond.
At the beach, I remember him playing in the sand, taking me to the amusement park and going on the boring, childish rides, and tossing me in the bay. As I got older, we started to become better friends. I would go to his football and basketball games, and I felt famous. I would walk around and when someone would ask me who I was, I would proudly say “I’m Sam’s sister!” Then they often would reply “there’s another one?” in shock, and I would nod my head and smile proudly.
At home, I can’t even remember how much time we spent together in the basement. We would watch ET daily and eat huge bowls of ice cream with pretzels. I even remember one time I was studying for a spelling test, and I just couldn’t get it. I was lying upside down on the couch trying to get how to spell brown. I just could not wrap it around my head, and Sam stayed there and kept correcting me until I finally got it, b-r-o-w-n. We would watch movies that I’m just now starting to get, but those were some of the most fun things of my childhood.
I will never forget setting up his new bed, playing Legos, wrestling with Rocky, putting in the new basement door together, that whip cream fight we had, the songs you would blare in the car while picking me up from school totally disregarding the carpool line, or that Christmas you went all out and gave me about 7 gifts total, which I still use, as well as the countless viewings of Christmas Vacation and the one time we watched A Christmas Story about 12 times in a row. My big brother was the greatest person I ever knew.
I still envy his humor and goofiness. No one else could walk in to a new place and be the life of the party like he could. He was nice to everyone and somehow even in the worst of times made everyone laugh. I thank him for my love of sports, 97.1 the river music, comedy movies, chocolate milk, the memories that still make me smile, and my sense of humor. He was my best friend in the whole world as well as the best big brother anyone could ask to have. I am still honored to be your baby sister.
- Katherine, 16 years old
For more information on The Sam Robb Fund please click here.
