Superheroes for Sam

This is Superman Sam.
He could use your support!

I don't have any kids, but I know this to be true: Learning that your child has cancer must be every parent's worst nightmare. This week, the Jewish blogging community was hit hard by the news that Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, a.k.a. Ima On (and Off) the Bima, one of our biggest online personalities, had recently gotten the terrible news that her son, 6-year-old Sam, has leukemia.

I don't know Phyllis well. I've met her once, when we both spoke on a social media panel together in 2009. I follow her on Twitter, & we've encountered one another a few times through work-related happenings. What I know of Phyllis is that she's a dedicated mother, a social media whiz, a brilliant rabbi, & a beloved friend of so, so many people who I know & trust.

In true Ima On the Bima style, Phyllis and her husband Michael have taken to social media to tell their story & to direct the waves of support coming in for their son & for their whole family. They've started a blog called Superman Sam to keep their friends & family informed of Sam's condition & his progress in the fight against his disease. And they're asking for our help is making sure Sam knows he's loved.

Will you join me in being a Superhero for Sam? You don't have to be Jewish, of course, to show this 6-year-old boy that you're pulling for him - & that you are one of hundreds, maybe thousands, who is sending him strength & love from across the miles. To participate, take a photograph of yourself wearing your favorite superhero shirt or holding up something superhero related or, hell, just smiling big. print out the picture, stick it in an envelope, & mail it to:

Sam Sommer, E571
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
P.O. Box 1997
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-1997

Don't have the energy to print & send on your own? No judgment here. I happen to love snail mail, & I've got a stockpile of stamps waiting to be used. You can email me your photo at suburbansweetheart@gmail.com to be printed out & sent to Phyllis, Sam, & their family. All photos will be hung on the wall in Sam's hospital room to show him that Team Superman Sam is rooting for him.

Rabbi Sommer, left, with her family,
showing their support for Superman Sam