CT Scan...

I had a couple warnings about this one.

The older brother, Sam, was a part of a group of Comet fellas I that were some of my all time favorite bruthas from the BCLUW Class of 2009. Many were like-minded Cub fans (in the midst of a rare great season)... all outstanding athletes in their own right... I made a special trip to watch them play in a substate final that summer for no other reason than nearly all the starting lineup had used our studio... and they became more than just clients. They were my bros.

Sam and others like Hutch, Nick, Austin, Blake and Corey have all stayed in touch since then... but on that night in State Center, I heard the P.A. announcer mention a name I hadn't heard.

"Now batting... Cole Thompson."

Hmmm... wonder if that's Sam's little brother?

Sure enough it was... and I've seen his name popping up in the paper on a regular basis the last two years since. I think it may be safe to say that he's the best overall athlete at the school now.

I figured... if he was half as awesome as his brother, Sam... I was gonna have a great session... and I wasn't disappointed.

His best friend Joel was in a couple days prior for his senior session... and the running joke that day was that Joel's mom, Darci, thought SO much of her son's best bud that perhaps she loved him even MORE than her own son! I joked if that were the case... then perhaps Darci needs a 10x20 storyboard of Joel AND Cole as well!

So we knew he was baller... we knew he was well thought of...

What else did I find out then?

I found out that he also had patience.

And lots of it.

In perhaps one of my biggest boneheaded moves of my career... I took Cole and his equally patient and gracious mom, Deb, on location a few miles away at my folks' place in Gilman. Upon returning... I realized that I had locked myself out of the studio.

Smooth. I know.

Called the secretary at her second job. No answer.

Called the wife at her job hoping there was a second set of keys at home.

No dice.

So it was off to Marshalltown to see if I could track down the secretary (figured her cell phone was off). No luck there... had the morning off. So... as a last resort... we drove to Laurel to fetch the extra set of keys from the wife at her work.

The Magical Marshall County Tour finally ended up back at Montour after our crazy detour, and the Thompsons could not have been more understanding.

As thanks, I evidently gave Cole some serious Stewart Photography Karma as he scored the winning touchdown the next night against my alma mater, and for good measure, he picked off a desperation pass to put the nail in the coffin.

While I surely can't take any credit for that performance (or his equally impressive encore last week against GMG) I will take credit for some killer images. And I'm guessing that his girlfriend (who will be in on Monday) will be thankful that I'm taking special precautions to make sure that I don't lock myself out of the studio again.

:)