Samantha Brooke Wilkinson Wyatt
February 18, 1975 – May 29, 2009

If you’ve read Heart of a Soldier, or you know me in real or virtual life, you know that I lost my sister Samantha in a car accident in 2009. Today would have been her thirty-eight birthday. Sam was my best friend. She was an amazing person, strong and tough, but with a heart of mush. She would give you the shirt off her back and always lend a helping hand.

I always loved to read, but when my children were growing up and times were busy, I got away from reading. I didn’t have the time (I thought) and I let myself drift away from something I had loved. Sam found a series she loved, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Darkhunter series, and she told me I HAD to read it. She gave me the first book and I was once again hooked. We spent the next several years finding new books and authors and sharing our passion for the written word.

I wish Sam had lived to see where the literary world has come. She had written several novels and tried to get them published, but it was a different time (amazing what a difference a few years has made) I know she would be a published author today if she were still alive.

You rest in peace, beyond the veil
While we, who left behind, just wail
Your smiling face I miss so much
Your gentle hands, I miss your touch
A brilliant mind, seems such a waste
I ponder, why you met your fate
Time and chance took you away
But in our hearts you’ll always stay

Happy Birthday Sissy. I love and miss you.