DAD WORE POKÉMON TIE SON MADE IN 1ST GRADE TO GRADUATION
A Texas dad wore a Pokémon tie his son made in first grade to the kid’s high school graduation 11 years later.
Robert Olivo wore the tie on June 1, 2017, the day his son, Dylan Olivo, 18, of Austin, graduated from Del Valle High School, TODAY reported.
Dylan shared a photo of the two of them on Twitter and let the tie do the talking.
“I made this tie for my dad when I was in first grade,” he wrote. “Eleven years later, he wears it to my graduation.”
ABC7 reported the photo pulled in more than 429,000 likes.
How the tie got to graduation
The tie was a handmade Father’s Day gift, Dylan told BuzzFeed News, and Pokémon inspired the design.
“Since I loved Pokémon at the time (still do), I decided why not have him wear a tie of something that I like?” he said.
The tie featured Pikachu and Poké Balls, Teen Vogue reported. Pokémon has also made headlines for a man who sold Pokemon cards to buy a house.
Robert had no idea what to do with it at first.
“When I received the tie, I thought, ‘Where will I ever wear this?’” he told TODAY.
He hung it on the tie rack with his other ties and waited. “I placed it on the tie rack with my other ties, thinking, ‘I’ll find the right occasion,’” he said.
Graduation turned out to be that occasion. “This is the perfect moment to wear it where it will truly mean something,” Robert said.
He and his wife had planned the whole thing, Robert told TODAY. He also told The 74 that the couple joked about the tie and that he planned to wear it when Dylan graduated.
Dylan, meanwhile, was in the dark. “I didn’t expect him to really wear it or even have it this whole time,” he told Teen Vogue.
“He has never worn the tie before in his life until my graduation day,” Dylan said.
What happened next
The replies rolled in fast. One person wrote that the photo was “sooo cute,” that Dylan’s dad looked “sooo proud,” and that the drawing was impressive for a first grader, Teen Vogue reported.
Others answered with emotional memes. Robert said commenters kept writing, “Wow, (Dylan) made that in first grade!”
Dylan graduated cum laude, Boston 25 News reported. He planned to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall and pursue a degree in pharmacy, TODAY reported.
By the time TODAY ran its story on June 8, 2017, Dylan’s original tweet had been removed. A screenshot of it showed more than 432,000 likes and 122,000 retweets.
