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Tom's oldest sibling, Angie, is born.
Just a few months before Tom is born, and just a few weeks before he is concieved, Tom's sister, Angela, is born. This very first stage of his development comes as quite a surprise to his parents. -
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Prenatal Development
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Tom is born - Infancy
John Thomas Scott, Jr. is born on a Tuesday evening in Burlington, Iowa, the second child and first son of Tom Sr. and Tami Scott, just 11 months after his sister, Angela, was born. -
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Infancy and the First Two Years
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Early Childhood
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The family moves to Connor Avenue - Early Childhood
Tom's family moves to a new home, where they remain for the next few years, through the time Tom enters gradeschool and into his second-grade year. Here, Tom meets his first longtime friend, Eddy Rank. The two remain close into high school, although Tom's family moves away only 5 years later. -
Tom's brother, Dan, is born - Early Childhood
Tom and his sister, Angie, were born close enough together that their siblinghood felt more like twin-ship, so the chance to have a baby to look after is a welcome new experience. The three siblings will remain friends for life. -
Little Tommy enters kindergarten - Early Childhood
Mrs. Bower helps Tom feel comfortable in school, and his earliest academic endeavors include mastering the construction of pyramids made from giant domino blocks. -
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Middle Childhood
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The family moves to Stronghurst, IL - Middle Childhood
Tom and his family move to a small town in Illinois, 30 miles and another state away from his old town and old friends. He fits in well in his new class in the second grade, and begins to find new friends soon after. -
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Adolescence
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Tom's parents divorce - Adolescence
Custody changes a couple of times back and forth, and after a brief stint at another school without many friends and at the bottom of the social pecking order, Tom and his siblings return to live with their father, re-enrolling at their old school. -
His first kiss - Adolescence
A late bloomer, Tom begins to express an interest in girls. After meeting Kelly McDonald in Mississippi, a slightly older girl who gives Tom his first kiss, that interest begins to grow rapidly. -
Tom's dad remarries - Adolescence
Tom Sr. marries Tammy Atkinson of Mississippi, a friend of his extended family in Mississippi. -
First job - Adolescence
Tom gets his frist job at the age of 15, as a sophomore in high school, as an actor with a traveling theater troupe. The group travels to schools, churches, etc., to perform skits they wrote that address issues regarding good decision-making when it comes to the issues that traditionally plague adolescents. -
Driver's license day - Adolescence
Tom gets his license and is able to drive the plain, black 1984 Ford Escort that he bought with his acting money. Apparently, the good-decision-making skills he taught did not help him. -
A close-call auto accident - Adolescence
Tom is riding in the passenger side, rear seat of his cousin Mindy's car, with his sister, Angie, in the other front seat. They are T-boned on the highway, and the car is hit between the two passenger doors, resulting in some amount of medical trauma in Tom and his sister. Tom takes the worst of it with bruised kidneys and a traumatic-brain-injury concussion that causes amnesia that still persists. It does, however, provide him with a lifelong conversation topic. -
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Emerging Adulthood
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Tom graduates high school - Adolescence
Tom graduates 4th in his class with a strong GPA, headed for college (the first in his family to do so) with an acting scholarship. -
Tom meets the love of his life - Emerging Adulthood
Tom meets his future wife, Jennifer, at Monmouth College on his first day. She is his freshman orientation leader, and wears a kilt the first time they meet (she is in the pipe & drum corps band on campus), and that is exciting to Tom. -
First Real Job - Emerging Adulthood
Tom starts his first real job as a reporter and photographer for the Mt. Pleasant News. -
Second job - Emerging Adulthood
Tom moves to Michigan as he plans to soon marry his sweetheart. He starts at The Allegan County News as a photographer and reporter. -
Tom and Jen pick out their apartment - Emerging Adulthood
Tom moves in to the apartment ahead of Jen, who will join him after their wedding in September. -
Tom marries his sweetheart! - Emerging Adulthood
The result and the beginning of the best decision Tom has ever made. Life will never be the same again, and it will remain better than it ever was before. -
Move to Illinois - Emerging Adulthood
Tom and Jen move to Urbana, IL, as Jen takes her first position as a hospital chaplain. Tom in unable to find work as a reporter and excells in his position as a temp worker doing secretary work for the city public works department. -
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Adulthood
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Grad School, Part I - Adulthood
Tom is accepted and starts his master's program in journalism at the University of Illinois. -
First House - Adulthood
Tom and Jen buy their first home, a little 90-year-old bungalo that gives Tom plenty of opportunity to practice his remodeling skills and Jen plenty of opportunity to practice her decorating-on-a-budget skills. -
Editor's Job - Adulthood
Tom is hired as the editor of The Leader in St. Joseph, IL, after a short sting working as a sports editor at a nearby, sister newspaper. -
Tom and Jen have Ben, their first child - Adulthood
Benjamin Tavish Rund-Scott is born, the first child for Jen and Tom. -
Leaving Journalism - Adulthood
After 2-1/2 years editing, Tom decides he has had enough of journalism, and leaves for a job at the local Lowe's store at which he is a regular shopper anyway. -
Jen and Tom have Luke, their second child - Adulthood
Luke Findlay Rund-Scott is born. -
Tom's Family Moves - Without Him - Adulthood
Jen and the boys move to Michigan as Jen prepares to start her new job as a hospital chaplain at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. It was Tom and Jen's plan to move back to Mighigan, but Jen found work there sooner than Tom, and the family moved ahead of him. It was a hard day and following months for them all. -
Tom Moves to Michigan - Adulthood
Tom transfers to an open position at a Lowe's store in Michigan, and the family is reunited. It was a learning experience for them all, and although they would not have wished for the 3-month separation, the family makes the most out of the lessons it taught them. -
Second House - Adulthood
Tom and Jen buy their second home, a brand-new just-built daylight ranch home near Grand Rapids. It is a very different experience from their first home. -
Career Change - Again - Adulthood
Tom decides what his next career move will be, and decides to turn his life in a vastly different direction. He begins enrolling in prerequisite classes that will enable him to be accepted into a master's program in occupational therapy. It feels very good to him. -
Grad School - Part II - Adulthood
If all goes as planned, Tom will enter grad school again, enrolled in the Grand Valley State University Master of Occupational Therapy program. -
Tom & Jen have their third and last child - Adulthood
A third child is born, on Jen's birthday. -
First Child in College - Adulthood
Ben goes to college. -
Second Child in College - Adulthood
Luke attends college. -
Third child in college
Tom & Jen's third child enters college. -
Tom & Jen Retire - Late Adulthood
Tom & Jen retire in place, puttering around the house finally taking care of the things for which they had not previously had the time. -
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Late Adulthood
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Tom dies at age 99. Jen survives him and remarries to a 25-year-old track star. - Late Adulthood