Oliver's sophomore year was a bust.
He didn't step foot inside the school once,
and all of his classes were online.
Stupid covid.
His grades were subpar, and his social life kind of took a dump.
However, he worked more hours at the golf course just up
the road from The White House, and played a lot of golf, too.
He rode his motorcycle to work and spent a lot of time in the garage
reassembling and fixing his bike.
(And he also wore his helmet around the house a lot).
At the end of the school year, his buddies got a little group together
and joined another group of friends from another area
and school (mostly from church),
and together with a group of awesome parents, put together
their own PROM event.
Ollie looked handsome, and I was so super excited for him to
feel like a "normal" 16-year-old boy doing what
every 16-year-old kid should be doing
without the lingering effects of the
last year and a half, that covid stole.
North Carolina makes it almost impossible for
a 16-year-old to have a license (he has his permit!), so one of
the girls in the group drove, which made him feel kind of stupid.
And to make things worse, Christian and I picked him up with his
date from the event and took her home.
I felt really stupid sitting in the car while he walked her to the doorstep.
We tried to be as invisible as possible and sunk down in the dark car.
(I filmed it, though ;)
I think things will look up for Oliver this coming year.
He's headed into his Junior year, having grown and matured.
He is not only physically changed, he has changed spiritually
and is bright and strong, resilient, and handsome.
Junior year was my favorite.
I could drive and date, and I finally felt like I had grown up.
I think he'll feel like that, too.
He used to look like this! (2018)
