Congratulations to Mason, Yukon 2020 Graduate!

On Tuesday, our family (along with a couple of Mason’s friends) gathered around a television to watch the Yukon class of 2020 graduation ceremony. The online ceremony (streamed on Facebook) was the last of a series of events designed to celebrate this year’s graduating seniors, in a world where celebrations as we knew them have been put on hold. Celebrations began on Saturday with a parade of seniors. About half of this year’s graduating class took to their cars and did a lap around Yukon. Parents and friends lined the streets to wave, cheer, and support this year’s high school… (read more)

Happy 18th, Mason

Yesterday, Mason turned 18 years old. Let that sink in for a moment. I know it hasn’t quite sunk in for me yet. Last year on Mason’s birthday, I reminisced about all his previous birthday parties — the ones that took place at inflatable jump houses and arcades and bowling alleys. This year for Mason’s birthday, our extended families took him out for dinner. Tomorrow night, he’s having some friends over to play video and computer games. For his birthday, he asked for a 3D printer. Earlier today, he attended a college tour at the University of Oklahoma. Things are… (read more)

Bloody Pride

There are many kinds of pride. You can be proud of your country, the things you own, or the things you’ve done, but there’s nothing quite like the pride you feel when your kid does something super awesome. Since turning sixteen, Mason has been donating blood and platelets at school each time the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) visits. Last week, Mason was contacted by the OBI and informed that his blood was used to save a man’s life during a liver transplant. The man, Ronald Black, was scheduled to speak at OBI over the weekend, and the staff wanted to… (read more)

Happy 14th Birthday, Morgan!

Susan wasn’t the only O’Hara with a birthday last week. Last Friday, Morgan turned 14. I turned 14 in 1987. Life were different back then, but not that different. When I think back to being 14, I think mostly about wanting to fit in. I don’t mean wanting to be like everybody else, but wanting to find people who were into the same things I was into. It was about finding people who liked the music I liked, the computer and video games I liked, and the movies I liked. There was a lot of trial and error — friendships… (read more)

All Clear from the Doctor

Wednesday morning, Susan and I visited OU Children’s Hospital. There were three patients there that we knew: our niece Jessica’s newborn baby, our friend Sarah’s niece, and our son, Mason. Mason was born with a very minor heart defect. It’s extremely slight and has never caused him any issues, but it’s something the doctor likes to monitor for changes. Over time, the tests have grown further apart. When he was young, he had the test annually. His last test was almost four years ago, and his doctor wanted to do one more test to confirm nothing had changed. By 9… (read more)

Mason’s 17th Birthday

Mason turned seventeen years old on Wednesday. To celebrate, several of our family members came over for pizza, lasagna, a piece of cookie cake, and some ice cream. I didn’t sleep well the night before Mason’s party, and woke up Wednesday morning just before 5 a.m. I arrived at the office just before 6 a.m., worked hard on a project until 4:30, picked up the cookie for Mason’s party a little after five, and made it home roughly five minutes before our first guests arrived. It was a long day, and by the end of the evening I was wiped… (read more)

Fifteen and a Half

Mason O'Hara in Subaru WRX STI

“Dad, do you need to go to 7-11?” “Dad, do you need to go to the post office?” “Dad, do you need to go to the store?” Guess who turned fifteen-and-a-half last week and got his learner’s permit? (This is a staged photo. Mason will never drive the STI.) When Mason turned fourteen he got a license to drive a motorcycle, and for roughly a year and a half he’s been riding to school and around town on two wheels. I grew up riding motorcycles, as did my dad, but that doesn’t make it any easier to watch your kid… (read more)

The Criminal Case of the Treacherous Trespasser

In February, Mason made a poor decision and decided to leave his closed campus school for lunch, along with ten of his classmates. (Juniors and seniors are allowed to leave for lunch; freshman, like Mason, and sophomores are not.) When I was in school, kids who left campus usually did so to smoke. Not my kid. My kid got caught going to Little Caesar’s. The kids’ path led them out the backside of the school and through an adjacent parking lot, where a police officer was waiting for them. To teach the kids a lesson, the officer cited each of… (read more)

A Cloudy 11th Birthday

Sometimes when it rains it pours — both figuratively and literally. Morgan’s 11th birthday party was last Sunday. The weather report for the past two weeks (and the next 2 months) was “dry and hot.” Literally, our local weatherman said, “It’s going to be hot and dry for the next three months.” So we scheduled a pool party for the end of June for Morgan, and an hour before the party was set to start, storm clouds rolled in. Again — in Oklahoma, in the middle of summer, in the middle of a heat wave. You just haven’t lived until… (read more)

Mason’s Basketball Season (2013-2014)

This was Mason’s second year to play basketball for the YMCA. Last year Mason played in the 10-and-under league, and this year he got bumped up to the 12-and-under league. The age cut off was September 1st of 2013, meaning Mason can play 12-and-under ball for one more year. Mason’s team, which consisted of the same coaches and many of the same players as last year, went 7-1 this year (three of those games were forfeits), a record that was good enough to send them to state again. Last year state was in Weatherford (about an hour drive for us)… (read more)

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