A 57 and a Chevy

The week of seniors came to an end with a rarity.

An East Marshall senior that I WASN'T familiar with.

Being born and raised in these parts, it's not often that a EM senior reaches my studio without me being very familiar with he or she... their folks... their "story," so to speak.

Then there's A.J.

Typically the Mustang seniors I'm not ultra-acquainted with are the more and more common open enrollment students.

Which is exactly what Mr. Vaske is.

He told me he's spent time at South Tama, GMG even Dallas Center-Grimes before settling in at LeGrand his sophomore year.

The beauty of my job is in a situation like this... the unfamiliar can become familiar in a matter of a few hours.

A.J. flew solo for his session so there was chatter a plenty between a couple of Hawkeye fans. :)

My father would be the first to tell ya that I don't know the first thing about cars and engines and the like... so I had to do a pretty good job of faking it when my senior wanted to talk about his sled... horsepower, cylinders and such. But I held my own and got him up to speed with all things Hummer.

A self proclaimed former Ford fanatic... A.J. informed me that he once said he'd never be caught dead in a GM vehicle... yet there he was... in his Chevy that he's very proud of... (and working two jobs to pay for).

Our other main focus point was talking football... not just the Hawks... but East Marshall. Number 57 in your program, Mustang fans... :)

A trip to the gridiron in LeGrand was in order then... and with the assistance of my trusty eight-year old sidekick mini-me, Blake... we got some unique stuff.

I asked A.J. who his best friends were at EM now that it's home for him... and he would only give me one that he really trusted.

"I have a hard time making friends."

Well... you've got one more now, A.J.

Thanks my man.