Every neighborhood should have a Sami.
We’re lucky enough to have one right across the street. An energetic little fireball, Sami likes to ride her bike, swim and play in the snow.
She hustled us for six of the more than 400 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies she sold and, all by herself, she raised $310 for St. Baldrick’s, a cancer research charity.
Last summer, Sami came to the front door dressed as a giant dinosaur and we had a little fun trying not to get eaten.
A tiny cosplay queen, she loves to dress up.
“Hey, look at Sami!” I said one day, shortly after Halloween. As we watched, she flounced around her front yard in various costumes her mom had purchased on clearance. In a single afternoon, she was Little Red Riding Hood, Strawberry Shortcake and the Little Mermaid.
Her specialty, though, are Star Wars characters and her mom Sharon does an amazing job creating her costumes.
Best known as BB-Skate, a rolling version of the BB8 character, Sami has cosplayed a Storm Trooper, Rey and a porg. She even met Carrie Fisher at Wizard World Chicago in 2016.
She met Stan Lee too, and has cosplayed Spiderman, the Flash, Gwenpool and Cat Woman,
This weekend, she’s headed back to C2E2, a giant cosplay convention in Chicago. For Sami and her parents, cosplay offers an opportunity to challenge their creativity and to meet friends. They attend the conventions for fun.
When they’re in town, there’s no telling what you might see when you round the corner to Sami’s house. One day, she might be selling lemonade to raise funds for a charity, and the next she’s dressed as Spiderman and hanging upside down from a tree.
If you venture into our cool little hood and you see a dinosaur lurking about, be sure to give her a wave.
Sami is one cool kid! It’s good to see kids outside playing and actually having fun and also participating in worthwhile activities.