Sammy Valdez

Sammy Valdez was a boyfriend of Hazel Levesque during her childhood.

History
Sammy Valdez lived in New Orleans during the same time as Hazel back in the 1940's. Because Hazel's mother was using cursed stones, kids and adults would bully her. Sammy was Hazel's only friend during this time. He also took care of the horses owned by more fortunate families and would sneak Hazel into the stables on occasion to help and let her ride. For her birthday, he took her horseback riding and they set up a picnic where he gave her a cupcake. Unfortunately, Hazel's mother was convinced to move to Alaska by Gaea and Sammy never saw Hazel again and may not know where she went at all. Sammy moved to Texas and started a family, although he never forgot about Hazel. He died in the 1960's from a heart attack.

The Son of Neptune
When Hazel makes it back to her old home in Alaska, she picked up an old photo of Sammy and Percy thinks he saw him somewhere before, but can't remember where. Later, Percy falls into a pit of muskeg and Hazel jumps in after him, but Gaea forces an image into her mind of an ideal future, including a future version of herself getting married - possibly to Sammy. Hazel says that these visions aren't real and with Frank's help, they pull Percy from under the ground. When Leo sends a video message to Camp Jupiter, Hazel mistakes him for Sammy as the two look almost identical and Percy remembers how Leo looked a lot like Sammy from the photograph, but tells Hazel that can't be him as he would be over 70. According to Gaea, he moved to Texas and married at some point, but later died of a heart attack in the 1960s, having never forgotten about Hazel.

Trivia

 * Leo Valdez looks completely identical to Sammy, which hints he is a close relative.
 * Leo and Sammy share their surname, Valdez.
 * Leo was born in Texas, and that is where Sammy moved to as an adult.
 * Sammy Valdez was born in the 1940s, which is when the average grandfather of a teen was born.
 * It is very likely, that Leo Valdez is a descendant of Sammy Valdez, or a very close relative.