{"id":7030430,"date":"2026-08-06T15:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/the-lesson-my-birmingham-friend-taught-me-from-beyond-the-grave\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T15:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:54:16","slug":"the-lesson-my-birmingham-friend-taught-me-from-beyond-the-grave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430","title":{"rendered":"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"Sam<\/a>
Sam Tenenbaum Jr., local wrestling legend who wore a mask and went by the name \u201cThe Great Kaiser\u201d when he wrestled at Boutwell Auditorium and venues throughout the Southeast,. (Photo by Tamika Moore\/AL.com)Tamika Moore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By David Sher<\/em><\/p>\n

I wrote about Sam Tenenbaum<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, aka The Great Kaiser<\/em>,\u00a0 when he passed away last year.<\/p>\n

I wrote about my regret, my guilt, my failure to support him.<\/p>\n

But I never expected what would happen next\u2013or the lesson he would teach me, and all of us, from beyond the grave.<\/p>\n

For those who didn\u2019t know Sam, he was a true Birmingham original\u2013a wrestler and an opera singer. Two passions that seem worlds apart, yet he embraced them both with equal enthusiasm. He was the kind of person who defied easy categorization, who lived fully and authentically, and who touched people\u2019s lives in ways both dramatic and quiet.<\/p>\n

He was also a childhood friend.<\/p>\n

A Friendship I Failed to Support<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t buy the book he wrote about his life when he was alive. That simple act of support\u2013buying a book from a friend\u2013I couldn\u2019t manage because I thought he was being too persistent in asking.<\/p>\n

The guilt has stayed with me.<\/p>\n

But everyone kept asking me: \u201cAre you going to read the book?\u201d<\/p>\n

So I did.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m glad.<\/p>\n

What I Found in His Words<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s book isn\u2019t just a memoir. It\u2019s a window into the heart of someone who understood what it means to be human\u2013gloriously imperfect, occasionally pushy, but ultimately loving. Reading his words about his own mother gave me something I didn\u2019t expect: grace.<\/p>\n

In the book, Sam writes about being with his mother as she was dying.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs fate would have it, on that Sunday morning, I was the only one there in the room with her. I could see that she was fading. Her vital signs ebbed toward a flat line. I could not bring myself to say anything. I felt strongly that she wasn\u2019t really there anymore, and it seemed like I would only be talking to myself. Instead, I kissed her on the forehead, held her hand and felt her go peacefully.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I did, I thought about everything she had ever done for me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then I thought about an incident, toward the end, when I got frustrated with her because of something minor. I think I had asked her if she wanted me to bring her home some supper and she told me she wanted fried chicken. I was surprised because she hadn\u2019t been eating much of anything, much less something as substantial as fried chicken, but I gladly got it for her.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I brought it to her, she had turned up her nose and told me, \u201cI never ordered that.<\/em><\/p>\n

I still hate to even admit it, but I got short with her and told her she most certainly did order it and she had to eat it because she was wasting away. It\u2019s strange, sometimes, the things you think about in such important moments. The most important person in my whole world was thinking about a little spat over fried chicken.<\/em><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t mean anything at all in the grand scheme of life, then. Something as quickly as that thought flitted into my mind it evaporated.<\/em><\/p>\n

Something came over me and I realized that there are precious few times in life that really matter, and that when you love someone as much as I love my mother, as much as she loved me, you don\u2019t have to be perfect. Neither does the other person. You love each other just exactly as you are.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Lesson in the Fried Chicken<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading this, I felt something lift.<\/p>\n

Sam Tenenbaum\u2013this icon of Birmingham, the Great Kaiser\u2013got short with his dying mother over fried chicken. And he carried that with him even as she passed. But then he understood: love doesn\u2019t require perfection.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t buy Sam\u2019s book when he was alive. I didn\u2019t show up for him the way I wish I had. But reading his words now, I understand something he already knew: we don\u2019t have to be perfect. We just have to be human, and we have to try.<\/p>\n

Permission to Be Imperfect<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s book is a gift. It\u2019s honest about his flaws, his regrets, his moments of impatience. And in that honesty, there\u2019s permission for the rest of us to be imperfect too. To mess up, to feel guilty, to wish we\u2019d done better\u2013and then to forgive ourselves and keep loving anyway.<\/p>\n

I still feel the pain of not supporting Sam when I could have.<\/p>\n

But now I also feel gratitude. Gratitude that I finally read his words. Gratitude that he shared his own struggles so openly. Gratitude that Birmingham had someone like him, someone who understood that the messiness of being human is part of what makes love real.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t read Sam\u2019s book<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, do it. Not because it\u2019s perfect, but because it\u2019s true. And in a world that demands perfection, truth is what we need most.<\/p>\n

Also,\u00a0 it might make me feel a little less guilty.<\/p>\n

David Sher is the founder and publisher of\u00a0ComebackTown<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).<\/em><\/p>\n

If you care about Birmingham\u2019s future<\/span>, subscribe to ComebackTown newsletter<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com<\/em><\/p>\n

(Visited 1,014 times, 1 visits today)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sam Tenenbaum Jr., local wrestling legend who wore a mask and went by the name \u201cThe Great Kaiser\u201d when he wrestled at Boutwell Auditorium and venues throughout the Southeast,. (Photo by Tamika Moore\/AL.com)Tamika Moore By David Sher I wrote about Sam Tenenbaum, aka The Great Kaiser,\u00a0 when he passed away last year. I wrote about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7030431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[13518,1517,18530,11594,19272],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7030430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-birmingham","tag-friend","tag-grave","tag-lesson","tag-taught"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sam Tenenbaum Jr., local wrestling legend who wore a mask and went by the name \u201cThe Great Kaiser\u201d when he wrestled at Boutwell Auditorium and venues throughout the Southeast,. (Photo by Tamika Moore\/AL.com)Tamika Moore By David Sher I wrote about Sam Tenenbaum, aka The Great Kaiser,\u00a0 when he passed away last year. I wrote about […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-06T15:54:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-06T15:54:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\"},\"wordCount\":966,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Birmingham\",\"Friend\",\"Grave\",\"Lesson\",\"Taught\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alabama\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\",\"name\":\"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-06T15:54:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg\",\"width\":405,\"height\":365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Sam Tenenbaum Jr., local wrestling legend who wore a mask and went by the name \u201cThe Great Kaiser\u201d when he wrestled at Boutwell Auditorium and venues throughout the Southeast,. (Photo by Tamika Moore\/AL.com)Tamika Moore By David Sher I wrote about Sam Tenenbaum, aka The Great Kaiser,\u00a0 when he passed away last year. I wrote about […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2026-08-06T15:54:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":405,"height":365,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave","datePublished":"2026-08-06T15:54:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430"},"wordCount":966,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg","keywords":["Birmingham","Friend","Grave","Lesson","Taught"],"articleSection":["Alabama"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430","name":"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-06T15:54:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sam-Tenenbaum-3.jpg","width":405,"height":365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7030430#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Lesson My Birmingham Friend Taught Me from Beyond the Grave"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7030430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7030430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7030430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7030431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7030430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7030430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7030430"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=7030430"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=7030430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}