Well, Joel's Barlow basketball season didn't go as planned. At all. In fact, he didn't play a single regular season game, since he broke his ankle at the beginning of December, before they had even played one game. He got a couple West Orient games in, but that was it. He did get the all-clear from the doctor the day before the end-of-season league tournament and got to play in all four of those games. His team went 2 and 2, which was kind of a bummer, but we were just so happy that he got to play, we didn't care so much about winning. His first game, he played great and ended up with 10 points. My heart about burst with happiness for him. The other games didn't go as well, and he came down with a nasty cold Saturday and was pretty miserable by the evening and into the next day. Poor guy just couldn't catch a break this season. He finally gets to play and then gets sick. Oh well! What do you do? He was happy to be back playing the game he loves.
We didn't get to have the basketball celebration where they announce the Attitude Makes a Difference awards because of coronavirus, but they announced the recipients for each team on Facebook, and Joel got the award for his team! The kids on the team vote, and the coach decides. Tears welled up in my eyes when I saw his name on that list. He did have an amazing attitude this whole season and through this whole trial of his broken ankle. He went to almost every game and cheered his teammates on. His coaches were great about giving him rides when we had conflicts, and they were so encouraging of Joel as he sat on the bench with them. It was not an easy three months for him, and he handled it well. He never complained. Seriously, he didn't. He talked about how hard it was to watch his team play (and need him) and not be able to help, and he talked about how he really wanted to be out there with them, but he didn't complain. He deserved that award. We're proud of him!
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