When Tasha Yar died, Data said, "I think I have missed something. Instead of thinking of Tasha, I am thinking of what my life will be like without her." 

Captain Picard responded, "No Data, I think you got the point precisely."

For me, and probably for some of you, I spent yesterday in shock, thinking of what my life would be like without Scott. 

A year ago, I had given up simming. Then I got an email from a stranger asking me to join a new sim he was starting. I was skeptical, and to be quite honest, I didn’t trust many Trek sims at that point. But Scott worked with me, and slowly earned my trust. He became much more than a Captain or a sim player, he
became a friend, and in many ways, a partner.

Scott spent many hours talking about the sim, about his ideas for it, bouncing those ideas off of me and all of you. He was so excited about starting it over now with this new ship and added crew. The last time I talked to him, he took great pleasure in shocking me. He wanted Lenara and Daniel to return from shore
leave as a married couple and surprise everyone. He knew just how much that would please me.

That’s the kind of person he was. He tried to make people feel better.

He didn’t do that just within the confines of the sim, though. He would listen to me whine for hours at a time about real life things, and he remembered the things I talked about, and would ask me about them later, to see if things had improved. He genuinely cared.

Scott came into my life when I was at a very low point, and he is one of the ones who helped me get myself together, and who saw potential in me when I didn’t even see it in myself. He trusted me to give HIM advice. He treated me as an equal, and as someone worth spending time with. I can never repay him for that. 

I believe he felt that way about nearly everyone. He and I often joked that the sim players were like children, and we were the parents. That’s how he felt about you. You were family to him, not just characters.

It’s true that I lost my temper with him a number of times, and I’m sure he got equally as frustrated with me. But that’s the value of a true friend. You can have disagreements and feel comfortable enough to let those feelings out, knowing that you’ll still be friends after all is said and done. I’m grateful that I told him several times just how much his friendship meant to me. If you haven’t done that, if you haven’t let the people
close to you know how you feel, then you should. As with Scott’s case, you never know if the day might come when there are no more chances.

Scott was a hero. He wasn’t just a hero to the two he saved, but he was a hero in many other ways as well, and he continues to live on in every person who he touched, including
all of us.

Thank you, Scott. We love you.
 

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