Note: A hectic summer
has prevented me from using this space as much as I would have liked, and I
hope to pick back up in the coming weeks. Today I am casting energy issues
aside, and I write for a friend – one of the best in the energy business – and for
his family.
Last Friday night my friends and I went out to the
Washington Nats game to catch up before one friend shipped off to Africa for a
year. We had a great time and shared
many good laughs as we usually do, but it ended up being a night we’ll never
forget, and one that will ultimately make us stronger.
We grabbed drinks after the game and I headed home around 10:45. My friends stayed out a little while longer before calling it a night. As my friend Thomas “TC” Maslin made his short walk home to his
wife and son, he was assaulted and left in critical condition.
Those who know me know I prefer keeping my emotions
private – like many guys do. I will say
that it has been an exhausting and emotional week. Knowing what could have
happened to him, however, has made it a week I am grateful for.
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| TC on Mt LeConte |
TC has a beautiful wife and son, and an unbelievably strong
family. Friends and the community are rallying around them, and the display of strength TC and his family are showing is inspiring – and not at all surprising.
Among our friends, he is the paragon. I liked to joke with TC
that it was good for us unmarried guys to have him around because it was comforting to know that at least one us had life figured out.
TC is also full of humility. He’ll never admit it, but he’s
one of the brightest solar energy minds out there. The only time we knew he was quoted in the New York Times or Bloomberg was when we stumbled upon it ourselves.
I was reading an energy book a few months ago and flipped to
the back of the book to look up a citation. There was TC’s name. I took a picture of it and sent it to our
friends, because if he wasn’t going to brag about it, I was happy to do it for
him. (He’ll probably shake his head when he reads this post… sorry TC!)
TC and his family mean a lot to my friends and I. We want to ensure they get the best medical care and support they deserve during the recovery process, so we’ve
set up this donation site to help:
