2019 LYCOMING COLLEGE LC MAGAZINE SPRING

Scott Sutton ’04 was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity while a student at Lycoming. After graduation, he gained employment with the fraternity’s national organization, and that is where he met Alec Traub of Los Angeles. The two worked together for a couple of years before going separate ways. Scott returned to central Pennsylvania and Alec remained on the west coast, but no amount of distance could break the bond these two had forged as friends. Over the years, Scott and Alec would close their frequent messages to one another with quips about how much they missed each other, trying to out-do the other with phrases such as, “I miss you like the grasshopper misses grass…and hopping.” They even joked about writing a book one day that could somehow chronicle these silly messages of friendship. Fast-forward to 2016, and the book idea resurfaced when life took a sudden turn. Scott, then 34, was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroendocrine cancer. Alec and his wife, Dana, flew to Pennsylvania to visit Scott, his wife Anne, and their young son Alec — partly named after Traub. It was during that visit when the two men decided to write a children’s book about a daddy grasshopper who repeatedly tells his son how much he loves him. Published in 2018, “I Love You Like…” is dedicated to Scott’s son, now three-years-old. Scott’s biggest fear was finally reading the completed book to Alec (Sutton). “Thank God he liked it. He wanted to read it again, and again the next night.” Scott said what means the most to him about this project is that he can hand something to his son. “It’s just a little book, but if I’m not going to be around, at least he’ll have something — to always have.” Sadly, Scott passed away on Dec. 13, 2018. He is survived by his wife Anne, son Alec, siblings Renee (Sutton) Aubele ’06 and Michelle (Sutton) Fogal, and parents Chuck and Rose Sutton. To read more about Scott and the story behind this book, visit www.grassandhopping.com. “I Love You Like…” can be purchased on Amazon.com. It was Scott’s hope that the book bring as much joy to its readers as it has brought to his family. Scott ’04 and Anne Sutton with their son, Alec, in April 2018 (Moraes Photography of Pittsburgh) Sutton and Traub A story of friendship and a father’s legacy 43 www.lycoming.edu