Thomas Michael:  

I went by the nickname of Butch back then and I'm here more out of curiosity than anything. Quite frankly, high school had its moments, but was generally not a good time of life for me. Ankylosing spondylitis hit me at 16 though no one knew what it was until I was in my 20s and it had crippled me up badly. Too, it was rather strange being redistricted to our arch rival HS where I knew very few people. Nonetheless, I had managed to build a good career in the Coast Guard until the AS took that away, too. If I had not been toughened by athletics, the AS would had probably destroyed me. So, I've had to get up several times after being knocked down so to speak. I graduated #1 in my department at university - I've been teaching now for 15 years and farmed for about 10 years, too. Mostly sheep and cattle though we always had pigs, goats, chickens turkeys, geese - even a horse and llama! Doing OK tho...Expand for more