Tony Elrod
I remember when I was young, playing in the front yard when Steve and Candee were going to the store but would not let me go with them. I was so mad I started crying. Steve was about 16 or 17 at the time. They were on the way to pick up my ice cream birthday cake at Baskin Robins. Well, a short time later, one of our neighbors stopped by and asked where my parents were. Apparently, Steve and Candee had gotten into a horrible wreck. A lady had run a stop sign and hit Steve and Candee, Steve was ok at the time but was extremely shaken by the ordeal. Candee had to be taken to the hospital, I believe she had broken her (Elrod) nose. Well mom and dad obviously went to the hospital. This is when Mrs. Fox came over to watch over us. I remember to this day; we were all on the back patio off dad's studio. Steve being so shaken up; Mrs. Fox came down with a glass of Bourbon to give to Steve to help calm his nerves. I believe this was Steve’s first drink. The reason I remember this, is because, if I had gone with Steve and Candee, I probably would have taken the brunt of this wreck and who knows, if I would have survived to continue to grace my family and the rest of the world...
This one, you need to visualize it while reading it...
Another memory I have of Steve is when we had one of our family vacations in Myrtle Beach. This is a good one because one of the family members said Hey, that Banana Boat ride looks like fun, who wants to go? So, Steve, Leigh, Jenn, Emily and I (cannot remember who else was on the boat) walk down the beach to where you paid and got on the boat. Amanda decided to stay back on the beach to watch (only smart one in the bunch) As we all go on the boat for a "fun" boat ride the person driving the boat gave us some instructions, such as, take sunglasses off, don't hold on if you fall out, no cameras, blah blah blah...as the boat slowly departed from the beach and eventually started to pick up power, it became incredibly bumpy, and I mean bumpy. Remember the instructions? #2? Don't hold on, well Steve went over but apparently was not listening to the instructions, held on for Dear Life. His ass was bumping all over the water, we were all screaming at him to let go. It was like a boat taking on water and started sinking very fast.. Well once my brother let go, we went back and picked him up. We continued with the "fun" boat ride, and I will be damned, 5 minutes later, I guess Steve enjoyed the ride so much, he was bumped out of the "fun" boat again...the best part was, he held on for DEAR LIFE AGAIN!!! So, we all had a good laugh over my brother and the "fun" Banana Boat Ride.
My favorite memory of Steve is him being a husband, father, grandfather, brother and principal. What I mean by this is, when I speak to people who were taught by and who taught for him. The respect that they had for him and still do to this day. It wasn't until later in my life, that I truly got to know my brother especially during our sibling vacations at Jack and Karens. Whenever he spoke about Leigh, Cat, Michael, Liz, Megan, Madeline and Ava, his face just glowed, regardless of who he was speaking about. You see the genuine love that he has for his family. Always so proud. He is about as awesome as a human can be...plus he is a TRUE FIGHTER!
Love you Brother, I mean that...