By Brent Thompson
For more than 10 years, the phone would ring several times each week around 11:30 a.m. The call would come from either me or Scott Allen and it always began with the same four words – “Have you eaten yet?” Scott and I ate lunch together more often than most friends do and I am so grateful that we did. I now know that we were frontloading our time because we won’t be having any more lunches together. Scott passed away on July 22 following an extended illness.
Scott and I met when our daughters – Maggie and Lowery – started kindergarten together at Crestline Elementary. We had a lot in common – we had daughters the same age, we attended the same church, we were both University of Alabama graduates, we were both self-employed and we were both only children. But, more than all of that, we just liked each other. We never tired of telling the same stories over and over and we would always laugh like it was the first time we had heard them.
Scott’s favorite subject was his family – wife J.J. and children Maggie, Steve and Wills. He marveled and relished in his kids’ different personalities and interests. He loved spending evenings with J.J. on the side porch of their home.
When you have three children, you are bound to meet parents that intersect with your children’s friends and activities. Scott’s network with other parents was deep and wide, but his relationships were not surface – he took the time to know people and befriend them. As cliche as it may sound, everyone – and I mean everyone – liked Scott Allen. He was approachable and quick with a laugh and a smile.
In the last few months of Scott’s life, I formed and rekindled relationships with a group of people that cared deeply for him and his family. We were in constant touch – supporting, commiserating and encouraging each other throughout his illness. Even from his hospital bed, Scott was fostering and strengthening friendships – that was classic Scott Allen. I can’t write this remembrance without mentioning Ashley Smith, Whitney Ligon, Yvette Weaver, Marguerite McCowan, Trent Wright, Josh Rudder, Jim Beatty, David Campbell, Justin Allen, Thomas Perrine, Jim Walker, Carter Clay, George Carbonie, Jason Maddox and Alan Palmer. I know there are many others that have been instrumental in helping the Allen family and you are certainly appreciated as well.
Scott, we miss you and we love you. I can’t wait to see you again. And when I do, I’ll hope you haven’t eaten yet.
