A Coming Home Story

by Jack Scott | July 11, 2020

I told my friends in Kansas City that I was heading home to attend my mother’s

funeral. Many thought of my home as Kansas City, but I have always referred to

Syracuse as “home”. My good friend Ted Kitten, a Kendall native, who has also

lived in Kansas City a long time feels the same way.

Well, Ted and I road-tripped to Syracuse on June 25th to pay respects to my

Mom Sally Scott, aka“Momo”.

Once in town, my first stop was to see Tim Kohart at Valley State Bank. I was

surprised to find out that my dad hired him to run the bank when he was still in

his twenties. The years have been good to Tim, and he was the perfect choice. It

was good to catch up on what was happening around town.

After cruising Main Street, our next stop was the pizzeria. I only had to travel 418

miles to get some good pizza! It was well worth the trip. We then checked into

The Boarders hotel, which was the perfect place for the whole Scott clan to be.

We had 12 hotel rooms and received the best in hospitality.

On Friday night, close friends and family met at the golf course for a dinner

hosted by Stan and Linda Englert. It was great to share excellent BBQ and

renew old friendships. It was such a blessing to see Barry Brown, David Black,

Keith Brown and Treg Hatcher. Treg hung out with my younger brother and sister

in high school, but he and I have developed a close friendship over the years at

the various class reunion get togethers. I also saw Rick Schmidt, and my kids

wanted to know who I was talking to with that long hair. I replied, “It was Rick.

You should have seen him when his hair was longer and had a mullet.” Their

response was a collective, “Ewwww.” Sorry, Rick!

Saturday, was all for my mom, Momo. The cemetery was hot and dusty and just

as I remembered it. Don Fellers did an excellent job with making all the

arrangements and ensuring everything went smoothly. Ardeen led a beautiful

service. It was so nice to see mom’s old friends, Sharon Englert and Laura

Graber. I couldn’t help remember hearing an old tape recording of Laura’s New

Year’s Eve speech after she had one too many. We kids were wondering why

she sounded so funny! We all shared a few stories and shed a few tears giving

mom a proper sendoff. It was a sorrowful drive back to town from the cemetery.

Following the service, we had a luncheon at the Black Bison. Tommy and Janet

Thomeczek were magnificent hosts. It was so good to finally meet Heath and 

Michele Boy. Mom never got to meet them in person, though she did paint a pet

portrait for them, but she would have agreed that they were the nicest of people.

I had been looking forward to seeing Dorothy Lockett but knew it would be

difficult. When I finally got to see her I completely lost it, which I knew was going

to happen. That is what happens when you care so much about someone. I had

a similar reaction when I saw my Aunt Pat Goss and cousin Shana Smith, who

came in for the funeral. I also saw Linda (Durler) Dinkel, whose mom (and my mom’s

best friend) suffered from the same terrible disease. I can’t tell you how much I

hate the word “cancer”. It has taken my mother-in-law, mom and dad, almost

taken my daughter, and has its claws in me. I pray that it is God’s will that I don’t

get taken, but take comfort in the fact that God is with me no matter the trial

(Isaiah 41:9-10).

A trip to Syracuse wouldn’t be complete without a journey to Ron and Linda

Brown’s farm where we are always welcomed like family. The black, flesh-eating

flies were very happy to see us, too! We got to take family photos in the wheat

field, and my grandkids ran around like they owned the place.

We just had to eat more pizza, so we came back to town and closed The Pizzeria down.

Perhaps my daughter said it best in her FaceBook post, “I’m glad we could bury

Momo here. It’s a good place with good people. I’m so thankful for my family,

and that we could all be here together, supporting each other. It’s what Momo

would have wanted.”

I realize how good it was to be HOME. It was a horrible thing for Momo to go

through, but knowing that she is at peace with God makes it easier for our family.

Thank you everyone for respecting and honoring my mom.

 With love,

Jack Scott and The Entire Momo Clan

(Hubbards, Scotts & Crocketts)