Class of 2020 – Congrats

I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to write this blog post. Maybe I’ve been sitting around waiting for closure to this odd senior year. Finally having a graduation ceremony, celebrating as safely as possibly with a few friends, finding ways to honor him and his friends in new found ways helped close the door.

In truth, Dillon handled the loss of his senior year much better than I did. He continued to hold on to hope for a senior baseball season until it was cancelled and even then moved forward with hope for what the future holds. When he drove off last Sunday morning to complete his last summer before college working at his beloved summer camp, it finally felt like time to close the door.

So excuse me for the picture overload but it is time to honor this member of the Class of 2020 here on the blog!

We took Dillon’s senior pictures a short 5 days before COVID 19 shut down the school for what we thought would be a few extra weeks. I’m so thankful we were able to have this time to capture my sweet, handsome boy before all the chaos.

His smile has always melted my heart from day one and to see him grow into this incredibly handsome man makes my heart overflow. I’m thankful for his easy going personality and ability to go with the flow. If a pandemic had to happen during one of my kids senior year, Dillon was probably the best choice.

And I guess if baseball doesn’t work out, he can explore a career in modeling! He also has a super deep voice and can carry a tune so I’m always telling him he needs to pick up a guitar and learn to play.

Now this, this is what senior year is all about! Dillon embraced senior year fully back in the fall. He dressed up for games and went all out cheering on his friends during football and volleyball season. This picture is on the front page of the yearbook!

We were cheated out of a baseball season but as Texas began lifting restrictions in early June, the amazing coaches rallied and pulled together a senior night. Dillon was announced and we were able to walk out onto the field together before the moms threw out the first pitch to their sons.

His amazing coaches continued to stay in contact the entire spring. The concern they had for these boys was incredible; not only in regards to their physical health but checking in mentally too.

One of the celebrations I had been looking forward to the most was the senior walk where the kids dress up in cap and gown and go back to walk the halls of their elementary schools. The schools arranged for a driveby instead and we were so thrilled to see the faces of some of the most special teachers in Dillon’s life. As you can see he loved it!

We joined together with other families to pull together an outdoor senior party. Having the kids come together one last time to celebrate their accomplishments and futures was so sweet.

This kind of became “the crew” during quarantine. I really am not sure they would have gotten as close if they had not been forced to limit social interaction. Love all these kids and can’t wait to see them flourish.

While there were masks and limits on guests, the outdoor graduation was honestly one of my favorites ever. It felt so much more personal than the huge ceremonies we normally have inside an arena. I loved finding this picture of Dillon coming into graduation that was in our local paper.

Having fireworks to end the night was such a fun touch.

We all love this kid so much! I’m so proud of all he’s done so far and can’t wait to see him shine in the future. We celebrated him with all his faves; chicken tenders, pepperoni rolls and cookie cake. It was a sweet day to be together with our family.

And how fun will it be someday to recreate this picture on Haisley’s graduaton day! Y’all, we are all completely smitten.

Dillon will be heading to Rice University in the fall. They have a plan and we have a dorm move in date but it is obviously not going to be the standard freshman experience. The good thing is, just like senior year, he won’t really know what he’s missing!

My hope for Dillon and the entire Class of 2020 is they will learn something from what was lost and use it to build their future. For a group who came into the world post 9-11, I’d say it was if they were born to thrive in adversity.