A Tribute

Recently, the world lost a wonderful person. Scott Strong was the father of two of my dearest friends and neighbors while I was in high school. I honestly can't picture him in my mind, no matter how hard I try, without a smile on his face. He was easy going, kind, and lots of fun. He was my favorite "friend's dad". He didn't try to be "one of the kids" but all the kids loved him and found it easy to talk to him.

I was at the Strong household a lot so I have numerous memories that involve him. However, there are several specific ones that come to mind....

One summer night I was spending the night over there and, for some reason, Harmony, Melody, and I thought it would be a great idea to go swimming in their pool in the middle of the night. I'm sure we weren't trying to be loud, but being the teenage girls we were, I'm sure we were anything but quiet. Eventually Mr. Strong popped his head out the back door and asked what in the world we were doing. I have no idea what we said. I don't remember what he said either except something about how we probably should come in and go to bed. The next morning I had no idea if we would be further questioned or given a lecture.... instead he just laughed about it and the silliness that we as high school girls were.

Another summer day I went somewhere with them that was a good driving distance away. Strangely, I can't remember what we were doing or where we were going. I do remember 2 things. One is riding in the back seat at night on the way home in the car that seemed to have 300 lights on the steering wheel. The other is stopping at Cracker Barrel for dinner. As we sat at the table Mr Strong was asking me about college (which is where I was headed a few months later). Later he had a distant look in his eye which I thought nothing of. Suddenly, Harmony piped in with "I know what you're thinking about dad! You're wondering if I'm ready to go off to school next year! ..... I will be fine :) " His grin told us she was onto him and she thought it was sweet. This was just one example of the relationship he had with his kids and family, and the love they shared.

I also remember their family finding out he had more brain tumors. Without going into great detail, this is something he struggled with for a very large portion of his life. Ultimately, it is the reason he is no longer with us. Shortly after that I went away to college and then moved to Washington a couple years later. Since that time, though their family was one I made a point to see if at all possible each time I went back for a visit, I have not been in contact with them nearly as much as I would have liked. I do know that he put up a wonderful fight with a wonderful attitude. He loved God and he loved his family.

When we made the decision recently to get on the path of moving our family to NC, Mr Strong was someone I thought of right away. I had no reason to expect he would be leaving us so soon but I thought of him hoping we would get there before he got drastically worse or went on to be with his Savior. In the end, I'm saddened that I didn't get to say goodbye one last time or be there as they celebrated his life, but I am thankful to have known him.

There are many things to say about Scott Strong, but I will leave you with a picture. This was taken at our wedding. He was pretty much in charge of ALL the music at the reception among a few other things. He was amazing at the piano (among his MANY other musical talents) and I wanted him to play! In this photo I'm pretty sure he's trying to figure out how to get our slide show to play with the music - in the end he played the piano while the slides were playing.

Though it's a silly picture I think it captures him well, at least in the way that I knew him. Silliness and happiness all in one - even though the slides were being frustrating and uncooperative.

Thank you, Mr Strong, for the lives you touched. You will be missed.

Love to Mrs Strong, Harmony, Melody, Musette, and their families.