Sam and I met when we were students at Southern Oregon University . We were both in the Master in Management, or MIM, cohort that began in the Fall of 2006.
One day on a break in class, Sam came up to me and introduced herself. We had some things in common – most notably, that we were both mothers. It gave us an added dimension. Clearly we thought that school was important but we also had people waiting at home for us when class was done.
Soon Sam and I were commuting to class (in Medford) together. It gave us some time to talk about the subjects that we were studying and also some time to decompress on the way home. I really appreciated having someone to share that time with. It was much better than when I was driving to and from class on my own crying and wondering what (in the hell) I was doing going back for my masters.
Sam has always impressed me. She is a patient and caring mother to her daughter. She is adept at social media and often coaches me in this arena. And she is the first Caucasian that I have met that speaks Chinese fluently. When you call her cell phone she has a message in both English and Chinese. I think that is pretty remarkable.
Through these past four years, Samantha has been a cheerful, helpful, even keeled friend and I am so grateful for that. This afternoon, I brought her a Raspberry Rhubarb Pie. I simply wanted to let her know that I appreciate her friendship very much.
Pie a Day Give Away 
We are eating raspberry rhubarb and thinking of you right now! Thank you for being such a sweet friend. Lots of love from our family to yours.
Hi Karen,
I just learned about your wonderful project, and am so impressed
I’m impressed with the fact that you can bake a pie a day, that you care enough about people to honor them with one, and that you write so well about it that the rest of us can vicariously enjoy the experience.
You are truly a light, and I thank you for spreading joy in the world.