R.I.P. TSgt Craig A. Scott (USAF, Ret.)

Found out this morning from my sister that her husband died of a heart attack sometime Friday. His health hadn't been the greatest since before his retirement. His kidneys had failed and he was on dialysis three days a week. Last year around this time, he had a mild heart attack, but seemed to be doing OK.

We don't choose our families, and we certainly (in our culture) don't choose our in-laws. But I have to admit, I'd have a hard time finding a better brother-in-law. He was not only an honest and honorable man, but an all-around fun guy. For 20 years, he served in the Air Force as a firefighter, retiring only because of ill health.

One of the neatest memories I have was last summer when we drove to the store (I was doing all the heavy lifting, because neither one of them was allowed to lift anything heavier than a Pepsi can). Just as we came out of the store, a fire truck roared by on the main road, about a quarter-mile away. Scotty stopped and watched it go by. After it had gone, he turned to me and said "You can take the man out of the fire department, but you can't take the fire department out of the man".