Son of Sam was my high school sweetheart (Long)... (No idea if this is an actual LetsNotMeet, but this would be a long shot to find him here).

Son of Sam was my high school sweetheart…<br><br>As children, my brother, Sam and I (along with our parents) spent our summers at the beach on Coney Island. It was a great childhood and we knew everyone in our little world. I was 12 and my brother, Sam is 14. Being that Sam was older, he was always out and about with his junior high school friends. I don’t know if it was his first year in junior high or his last, but Sam was hanging out with his friends one day and met a boy his age that he had never seen before. The boy had moved to Coney Island from somewhere else and had just started attending junior high school. He was tall, skinny and had no hair - as in, none. At a time where hair was everything, this was quite unusual, to say the least. Sam took a liking to the kid - who was also named Sam (SAM) - and invited him to join the gang (We’ll call them the Coney Island Boys). SAM had a terrible stutter and the Coney Island Boys, (as much as they liked SAM), lovedSAM as the butt of their jokes. It was an innocent time and jokes didn’t mean much, or necessarily mean anything at all. The boys would makeSAM do whatever they wanted because they knew he couldn’t say no…<br><br>…”G-g-g-g-g-go out on the w-w-w-w-water and swim to the raft!!!”<br><br>SAM would comply with anything the boys asked…<br><br>…”S-s-s-s-g-g-go t-t-t-to the hotdog stand and get me a hotdog! Tell them I said it’s free.”<br><br>SAM would comply…<br><br>…”S-s-s-s-s-steal a pack of cigarettes from the deli.”<br><br>SAM would comply…<br><br>…”S-s-s-s-s-steal a pack of gum.”<br><br>This was an innocent time and the boys were just bored out of their minds. SAM did whatever they toldSAM to do becauseSAM couldn’t say no. WhenSAM was done with his tasks, the boys would beatSAM up just for the hell of it. Volunteering for the task, my brother, Sam (who knew karate) would always come and rescueSAM. The boys would run away and my brother, Sam andSAM would walk the boardwalk together. My brother, Sam felt sorry forSAM and made it his business to hang out withSAM more often than not.<br><br>Years went by and I was now in senior high school. We still lived in Coney Island, where everyone knew everyone and, most importantly, everyone knew the Coney Island Boys. I had heard so much aboutSAM, butSAM had moved away at the end of the school year, when he was about 14 years old. His family moved to somewhere in Westchester County or Connecticut to be closer toSAM’s dad’s job, or so the story went.<br><br>It was the summer of 1977. I’m 15 years old and I worked at Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs as a cashier. I had close friends there and our manager, Willy, was very young and cool. We had a great time at work; it was like being part of a little family. I worked with a boy named Carl and he was a mutual friend of the Coney Island Boys. One day, when a group of them came in to visit me at work, I found myself face to face withSAM. SAM was visiting Coney Island for the day and the boys were hanging out withSAM at the amusement park. SAM had gotten lost in the crowd and was looking for his friends. Volunteering, Carl said he’d takeSAM to the amusements to find them. From that moment on, the sight ofSAM was forever embedded in my mind. At the time, I didn’t realize it, but I was obsessed withSAM. I did nothing but think ofSAM …<br><br>It was a couple of weeks after I sawSAM at Nathan’s when the news broke out. The so-called “Son of Sam” had been apprehended and SAM was all over the news. My family had heard about the Son of Sam shootings - as had everyone else - but we had no idea that the killer was the sameSAM that I had just seen at Nathan’s. At first, I was convinced that the television was playing a cruel joke on me. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the television as I stared at the face that was forever embedded in my mind. There it was; that face, the face ofSAM. That was the face I had been fantasizing about for the past two weeks. I couldn’t believe that I had seenSAM just weeks before he was caught.<br><br>As the news continued to unfold, I found myself interested in the details andSAM’s personal life. I had no idea thatSAM was of Italian descent and had grown up in an Italian family. I had no idea thatSAM was adopted. I had no idea thatSAM had a girlfriend. I had no idea thatSAM was an animal lover (We all know how that turned out). SAM’s real name was not mentioned right away, so I didn’t know if it was actuallySAM. The daySAM’s real name was published in the newspapers was the same day my brother, Sam called me at work to confirm that the Son of Sam wasSAM. I was 15 years old and completely obsessed.<br><br>SAM was the subject of every conversation I had for months following his arrest. I had never felt so close to him; so connected. I had no idea how or why, but I just felt like I knewSAM. I read everything I could aboutSAM, watched everything, and spoke to whomever knewSAM. I even metSAM’s high school sweetheart and current girlfriend, her sister, and many ofSAM’s friends. It was as if I was searching for something; anything that connected me toSAM. After all, he was the boy who had been the object of my fantasies for the past two weeks; the boy with no hair who was forever embedded in my mind…<br><br>A year went by and SAM was serving his prison sentence. I was about to turn 16 and was still completely obsessed withSAM. I had no idea how, but I had to meetSAM. I had to find out why I was so completely obsessed.SAM was serving 25 years to life at Tarrytown State Prison, in Westchester County, NY. It was only an hour drive from my home and I knew I had to seeSAM. I convinced my friend, Jenny to drive me to Tarrytown State Prison to meetSAM. Jenny’s father owned a pizzeria and she always had use of his car. We arrived at the prison and were told thatSAM was not allowed any visitors, except for family members and his one pre-approved girlfriend. I knewSAM was not expecting us, but I told the guards that we wereSAM’s cousins and we had driven all the way from Brooklyn to seeSAM. Perplexed, the guards finally agreed that I could seeSAM, but Jenny would have to wait outside as she was not “a cousin.”<br><br>I metSAM in a private meeting room. I was completely star struck and could say nothing. SAM talked about school. SAM talked about music. SAM talked about the shootings. SAM talked about his family. SAM talked, SAM talked, SAM talked…<br><br>SAM was interested in my brother and wanted to know how the Coney Island Boys were doing. SAM was glad to hear that my brother, Sam was doing well and I promisedSAM that I would pass along his regards. SAM was happy.<br><br>I left the prison with questions answered. I had never been so close toSAM and, yet; so disconnected. Why wasSAM so chatty? Why didSAM seem so normal? Why didSAM seem so casual? Why wasSAM talking so much? Why didSAM not speak with a stutter? I left the prison with even more questions than before…<br><br>It took me a long time to get overSAM. It took a long time to not think ofSAM. I readSAM’s book “The Son of Sam and Me (Building Bridges Between Worlds of Chaos and Love)” and got some answers; SAM had always had a stutter. SAM had just been taking diction lessons with a speech coach. SAM was completely cognizant at the time of the shootings.<br><br>Today, SAM (David Berkowitz) resides in Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, NY, and has been denied parole 18 times. The next parole hearing is set for 2030….<br><br>SAM met a girl named Laura at church. Laura andSAM are now “engaged” and reside in the same prison. Laura is also a convicted murderer (She murdered 4 people).<br><br>SAM is completely denied television and anything that connectsSAM to the outside world. I urge you to read “The Son of Sam and Me”SAM as is very descriptive ofSAM’s prison life.<br><br>**TL;DR:** Son of Sam was my high school sweetheart… (No idea if this is an actual LetsNotMeet, but this would be a long shot to find him here).