I guess now I can tell this story...

For their "Senior Prank" at Big Bear High School Nick, his best friend Kevin Dietz, and a few other kids came up with a great plan to get inside the school after hours and stack desks in the hallways. No damage and they didn't even have to break in--one of them had a key. One father who shall remain nameless hooked them up with black ski masks and such, making them look for all the world like real crooks.

The prank went off smoothly but they didn't count on the security cameras catching their every move. Or the loose lips among fellow classmates. WIthin a couple hours the cellphones of the perpetrators were confiscated and they were identified--except Nick. His was the one name that didn't come out and his buddies kept it that way, lest his "run-in" with the system throw a wrench in his plans for ROTC.

Of course we parents were called in to the Principal's office with our kids. He looked at me intently and said "We know there's one more kid involved and I know it's Nick...(XXXX, NOT Newsome)!" I kept my best poker face on and to my knowledge it never came out that Nick Newsome with the crazy smile was the remaining guilty party.

All the other kids were suspended for 3 days because like the Principal said, there had to be some punishment. Some used the break to go to Disneyland while Nick was in class and during graduation all had a code identifying themselves: each one at the podium included the phrase "Never Forget" as part of their future plans spiel.

Seems appropriate now; Nick Newsome, we'll "Never Forget."

I went through all of the letters he sent me while I was gone and he never missed a single day. 

One of the letters Nick sent me last summer while I was in boot camp.