Scott’s Eulogy – Thursday 13 February 2014
Scott. My Brother.
Scott was born in 1972. The youngest of three boys. My
earliest memories of Scott were of someone who was thoughtful and incredibly
caring. Someone who weighed up decisions in life before invariably plumping for
the right one.
When he was just 6 he decided Liverpool were going to be
his football team. For those of you with an interest in football you will know
that Liverpool have been consistently in the top half of the now Premier league
over the 35 years he supported them. I meanwhile followed the progress of
Lincoln City football club and watched them slowly slide out of the football
league all together!
Scott made friends easily and kept them. He had a great
friendship with Kevin Robinson during his school years, who lived only a short
distance away. A familiar mantra in our house was that ‘Scott is at Kevin’s
house’. Indeed when Kevin had a minor hiccup with his A level results, Scott’s
caring attitude shone through and he helped him out to greater success the
following year. That friendship clearly served both boys well later in life as
they both carved out very successful careers.
Scott was clearly the clever one of us three boys. He
spent long hours studying and achieved excellent A* levels and entry to Queens College
at Cambridge University. Meanwhile I could barely spell University…so I went on
to join the Police Force.
Scott told me a few weeks ago that he was really nervous
about making a good impression at Cambridge. With a formal dinner (called a
matriculation dinner) held near the start of the first term at Cambridge he was
worried about which piece of cutlery was needed for each course of food.
However, his nervousness was quickly allayed when one of his dining companions
proceeded to lick his plate clean, and Scott himself left early to go and see a
band called ‘The Levellers’. The days of student life!
Many of the photos of Scott that I have seen of him at
University show the long hair that seemed symptomatic of many students in the early
90’s. Clearly this was one thing that didn’t run in the family!
Of us three boys Scott was always the one who caused the
least amount of angst for our parents. I was off on my motorbikes, scaring my
mum to death. Daniel was somewhat accident prone seeming to break most bones in
his body at one stage or other, but Scott’s thoughtfulness meant that even when
he managed to break his foot by walking through a window when he was at
Cambridge, perhaps after a shandy too many, he didn’t tell our parents until
his foot was in plaster and he was well on the way to recovery.
Indeed the biggest thing I can think of that happened to
Scott was slightly later in life, which he himself recounted on his blog. The
Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand 2004. I remember watching the news on that day
thinking how bad it sounded, little realising that Scott and Hayley were both
in Thailand on one of the beaches just before the wave hit. Scott’s good sense
saw them running as fast as they could in the direction of the hills as the wave
approached and getting to high ground. His thoughtfulness again prevailed and
he contacted mum and dad to let them know he was safe, before they were even
aware of the Tsunami. I think we can all take learning from this. If you are
down on Bournemouth beach during that one sunny day of the year and you see the
sea rushing away from the beach…follow Scott’s lead…you know what to do!
I won’t dwell on the subject of Scott’s blog, as with
30,000 hits I am guessing most people here will have read at least some of it.
I found his writing truly inspirational under the circumstances. If there is
one thing that Scott would have wished us all to do, which he mentioned on his
blog, is to review our finances to make sure your loved ones are cared for if
something were to happen to you. We all think these things only happen to
someone else.
Lastly, I think that Scott’s greatest achievement in life
is meeting, falling in love and marrying Hayley. He has had two fantastic
children, Samuel and Maisie, which growing up with the attributes of their
parents I know they will do incredibly well in life. Scott was incredibly proud
of his family.
Just as I am incredibly proud, to call Scott. My Brother.
