Samantha Dina Rodriguez

A Samantha is a loving and kind girl. She is usually gorgeous and angelic looking. If you do not know a Samantha it would be worth your while to get to know one. She is the best friend you will ever have.. She is fun, nice, sweet, easy to talk to, and will not betray you. Samantha's usually look innocent, but are the funniest people ever (and they most likely have gotten around). Samantha's are always themselves and do not try to impress anyone. They also do not like it when people try to impress her; they are down to earth girls and just want to be around genuine people. Samantha's are the type of people you can trust and the type of person you want to get to know.

I like to begin by remembering you and not this tragic day in our lives.... I want to go back when you were 1st born on a Wednesday May 26, 1993 at Hollywood Memorial Hospital at 4:52pm. Our baby Samantha Rodriguez. Since you were born you were different than a lot of the other children because you were born with 2 bottom teeth and let me tell you that traumatized your mother, because breast feeding was not an option... You were a bundled since the day you were born... I know you’re going to be mad at me for telling all these people this story, but hey what the heck, I'm your father and I have to laugh a lil bit.

You started to sit and stand up in your crib. One morning I was coming home from working nights and I would go see you first before even seeing your mom. You were so quiet in your crib laughing and smiling at me. When I noticed, that you took off your diaper and smeared your poop all over the crib and walls and was having a craptastic fun with your poop, but you were so happy to see me, you didn't care.... Let me tell u Sammy, it was not fun having to clean your poop....

Fast forward a couple of years later when you were 3 years old and we lived in Tampa. You had your own bedroom and started to learn how to sleep on your own. We had to break you from watching TV all night in your room because you wouldn't go to sleep. So we went in there, and shut off the TV and kissed you good night. About 5 minutes later, we heard the TV turn back on. So I went back in. You turned it back on with the remote. The next thing I did, was unplug the TV and said go to sleep. Minutes later, the TV was plugged back in. I was astonished and went in again and removed this heavy box of a TV from the room and yelled,"Sam go to sleep." Well folks like I said before, our baby was stubborn and set in her ways, that she threw a major tantrum by destroying her bedroom. I came in again, this time I was furious and gave her spanking and said, know go to sleep and I shut the door! People the next thing out of mouth is something I will Never ever forget. A 3 year old yelled out her dad and said to me, "Dad don’t make me say it", "Dad don’t make me say it" and I said what Samantha. "Your a Effin Vagina...... “And people that was the PG rated version of it. Let me tell you that was the last time my angel ever spoke to me like that.

Right then and there I knew she was a firecracker and if she wanted something, there was nothing in the world that was going to stop her from getting it even at 3 yrs old.....

From the time she was born, one of her closest friend is Ashlee Cruz and she really isn't a friend, she was a sister to her. Her godparents Alex & Pinky Cruz's daughter. At 10 years old, we bought our house in PSN.

You were such a social butterfly, just like your parents. You became friends with all the neighbors on the block. Especially with Gaby Cerda. Because of you, all of neighbors in our hood knows us as the crazy Rodriguez Jets family of PSN.... You were the ring leader of this gang of about 30 kids on the block.

Here is where you met you’re the love of your life Adrian Mesa. I being a father of 4 girls is not easy because you become a bulldog and NO boy or man is going to be good enough for your girls. Man, I was seriously wrong. This boy became a man. Because of Samantha pushing him to better his life, he went on to become a police officer. Our baby made other people around her better.... Our baby loved sports. Soccer, basketball and especially football, anything that can get her out of the house to play with the kids on our block.

Playing soccer growing up became part of her life; this is where she met Dallas Norris. My wife and I call her our adopted white child. It didn't take me long to understand how these two became 2 peas in a pod. Our soccer superstars never wanted to play against each other. They always wanted to play on the same team and me coaching them.

On to the high school years, we bought her a car that always had a Jets decal on it. In her car on her visor, she would always write inspiring post it notes. This particular one was the last one she wrote and it said

FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF,

NO MATTER WHAT LIFE BRINGS.

KNOW THAT EACH TIME YOU WAKE UP

YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.

DO NOT WASTE IT.

Our baby became very popular not because her personality or her attitude it’s because she was a hated New York Jets fan from Miami. Hey, what I can say GangGreen runs through our blood. Her goal was to finish her basic college requirements here and finish her education in criminal justice at NYU to become a detective in NYC.

These are the teenage years where she met her other friends that have touched our lives, Jacky Zayas, Linda Soriano and Lorriane Freytes. It was pretty much funny how the met. They knew each other but didn't really get to know her until our loudmouth brash wannabe NYer beat the crap out of girl that was picking on her and her friends. We don't encourage violence but we do stand, for standing up for yourself. These girls all became part of her life and as well as our family. These crazy friends even made a video together. They all graduated from the same school and went to prom together at Fontainebleau Hotel. Where I really don't want to know what really happened that day, but I believe it was one of their craziest nights of their lives.

Graduating high school was one of the proudest days in our lives. We pushed her so hard and never stop pushing her about getting an education, because my wife and I didn't have that opportunity. We instilled this in our kids like an IV since birth and we will be damn, if we were going to raise any uneducated kids. We always told her, "Girls go to college to get more knowledge. Boys got to Jupiter to get more stupider"

On to college she went with a scholarship. She didn't even have to get a job, but went out and got one anyway at Potamkin Hyundai. We are not the typical Spanish speaking parents in Miami. Even though we are from Hispanic decent. Spanish is not our 1st language. Don’t get me wrong, she did understand it but did not speak it very well. So on the job interview she kind of lied and said she spoke it fluently. She was so worried and said, "I might not get this job if they find out". Then her mom asks her, "what if they start speaking Spanish to you, what are going to say?" Samantha answered "ya tu sabes, ya tu sabes" and gave a great big dimples smile. That was her answer to everything, when people started to speak spanish to her. Translation: you already know, you already know. We really believe her looks and charming personality got her the job.

On Xmas eve I got a pair of NY Jets booties. Which in reality, I didn't find myself ever wearing them, but when Samantha saw them. She instantly fell in love with them. Her exact words were, "best Christmas gift, not my gift ever"! Every time she had a song or saying in her head. She would repeat it over, over, over and over again. Driving all of us crazy! The last song was, "I'm different, yeah! I'm different" and walking around the house in her new favorite Christmas gift, not my gift ever jets booties. Yes you were our baby and very different! You accomplish a lot of things in the short time that you were on this earth.

Samantha my chuchicho,

This is the hardest thing in our lives that your mom, your sisters, your family and I have to go thru. I don't want to remember why you’re gone. I just want to remember all the memories, your family, friends, your goals, your enthusiasm, your stubbornness, your attitude, your funny ways, the way you touch people’s lives, your smile, your love and loyalness to our NY JETS, your dimples and most of all how you handle your life. Our baby, you gave us the best 19 yrs of our lives, that any parent can have and you’re Family and I will never ever forget that. I will try my hardest to be a strong man and support this family, but I need you my angel to be part of my backbone. You would have wanted me to. Please baby where ever you are in the heavens look over us, because we sorely, dearly miss and love you very much my chuchicho.

AMEN!