It was in March of 2003 there that we introduced you to Mr. Steven Joshua Thompson.

Better known as Bathtub Stevie, the son of well-known legend, Coca-Cola Mike.

Bathtub, in an attempt to follow in his ol’ dad’s footsteps, took on his own legendary status when he was about six years old. My family - including my daughter Rachel who was 19 at the time - and I were all down in Georgia-land visiting Coca-cola and Glory and the rest of our LaGrange friends when it happened.

On this particular midsummer night, we were all at Coca-Cola Mike’s house eating popcorn and drinking Coke and watching TV. The night was getting late, so Glory instructed little Stevie to go take his bath.

That was before Bathtub Stevie became a legend, so his parents sometimes made him go take baths and things like that. I don’t know if they continued to make him do such unpleasant chores after that night. My guess is that they didn’t and he went around a little bit smelly. But even old-time legends such as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood didn’t smell all that good when they were running outlaws out of town with a smoking six-shooter.

Being a truly outstanding 6-year-old boy - and not yet a legend - little Stevie escaped to the bathtub obediently where he had an arsenal waiting for him. The boy had every toy imaginable in that tub: toy soldiers, ships, airplanes, submarines, boats, rafts, and, of course, a yellow rubber ducky. He retired to the bathtub ready for battle.

So there Stevie was, in a bathtub of combat, splishing and splashing his way to a clean body.

The battle was moving toward a heated climax when it happened. Right in the middle of the sinking of yet another ship, the door opened … and 19-year-old Rachel walked in.

The unfriendly fire of these bathtub soldiers stopped abruptly.

Stevie looked up horrified at the teenage girl standing, gawking, in the doorway of the battle-zone.

This was the moment of truth.

This was high noon.

This was embarrassing.

Rachel’s mouth popped open and she froze when she realized what she had done. As soon as the words came to her, she said, “Oops, sorry!”

Then came the line that made Bathtub Stevie famous:

“Look,” said Bathtub abruptly, “Sorry don’t cut it!”

Life has never been the same for Bathtub since that day, the worst part being that he gets “wrote” up in the paper more times than he cares to remember.

But I want you to know that the young man has survived all of that for the last dozen years and has become a fine fella. You can even find him sacking groceries and flashing his million dollar smile about any day of the week down at Parmer’s Grocery.

But what you don’t know is that he has something else to add to his repertoire of great accomplishments.

He is now a proud graduate of Coca Cola Mike’s and my alma mater.

Yes sir, he walked across the stage at Callaway Stadium just two Saturdays ago, a graduate of LaGrange High School. Ah, I wish you could have been there when they called out his name. It was classic:

“Mr. Steven Joshua Thompson, better known as … Bathtub Stevie.”

You may not believe that, but that’s how I’m telling it. After all, this is how legends grow.

Readers may contactg Steven Bowen at steven.bowen@redoakisd.org