What a great story!
Isn't it amazing to come across people in your life whom you haven't seen in years and years, and somehow they -- whether by name or face or some moment you shared, like that reading class -- stick with you in some way?
And you now have a Masters in engineering, and use it for real estate development. How terrific. Good for you! Like Steph says, the grades don't tell everything.
Now I'm feeling a strange urge to hum "It's a Small World" (but I won't because that wretched song stays in one's head long after you've stopped singing it, LOL).
Thanks for posting, Mike! Stop by again sometime, won't you?
P.S. Of course I'd love to see a picture of young TJ, but some people find it too intimate to reveal personal stuff like that, so it's entirely up to TJ whether he'd be okay sharing that with us. (Good god, if necessary, I'll share a third grade picture with you, TJ. I'll just have to borrow one from my parents. I won't tease you if you don't tease me. Or, we can both have a good laugh. *GRIN*)