No, he’s not wearing the same gear today as he was in this picture, but this was one of the first real times in his short 19 years that I could see great physical and athletic potential.  Sure, he is wearing his own glove in this, as the catcher’s mitt was too new, but Scotty made the most of it and became a darn good catcher for a variety of teams.  Of course this ultimately led to lacrosse where after thinking he could be an offensive star, switched to goalie.  And a JV MVP in his junior year and a Varsity MVP in his senior year later, he proved that potential true.

But tonight as I write this at 9pm EST, Scotty is wearing much different gear, the gear of a US Marine. BUT, he is not yet a Marine…..he is in the final testing of bootcamp, The Crucible, and has been at it with his platoon nonstop already for over 40 hours.  They have 14 more to go too.  But when they finish, tomorrow they will all become Marines!  It is a big thing!

But as I looked over some of his pictures tonight I remembered how I saw that potential.  In truth, this was not on my radar then, but it now makes perfect sense.  He made me proud then, and he makes me proud now.

Keep them in your prayers, but don’t worry.  They are a first class group of guys….with just 14 hours to go!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+