Lucas Kolodziejski is a high school senior. The boy’s broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, and - man, does it ever feel weird to write this about any guy, nephew or not - good-looking.

So I feel the need to inform high school girls of something else. He’s a two-timer.

His two-timing, though, doesn’t wreck relationships. It enhances his health.

Luke, you see, loves the game of baseball - especially working endlessly to yet improve his already picture-perfect swing and impeccable mechanics on the mound. One of his baseball goals is to get a partial scholarship to play in college.

But he’s now equally in love with another athletic pursuit: weightlifting.

Most boys who take to the weights are merely infatuated with developing big arms and visible abs because what they’re truly infatuated with are females. Not so with this Kolo.

After hearing him talk about the mindset needed to deadlift and the depth of his squats and seeing the intensity with which he does both, I know his new love is no passing fancy. And I’m also pretty sure of something else.

That once you read how this second love came to be, you’ll develop a real fondness for Luke, high-school-aged girl or not.

What triggered Luke’s strong feelings for weightlifting was that it, as well as baseball, was taken from him.

Last May, about the time he was preparing to drive his date to the prom, a case of mono drove him to the local hospital. When the mono took a turn for the worse, Luke took to the road again - traveling this time by ambulance to the Hershey Medical Center.

It’s a ride and a time Luke would rather not remember - except for the one detail he’ll never forget. Six days later, still sick but stable enough to be discharged, a nurse weighed him on an old-style medical scale.

The counterweights that would’ve balanced out the beam at 165 pounds on the day he should’ve donned a tux, found equilibrium at a far lesser number, 128 pounds. Which leads us to the question of the day:

How would you handle losing 37 pounds in 14 days - when most of it’s hard-earned muscle? Lucas Kolodziejski didn’t handle it well.

Initially.

Once he was allowed to lift weights lightly as part of his rehab, however, a love for it developed. He realized by controlling the lifted weight (whether it was light or not), by being conscious of his body’s movement, by forcing the targeted muscle to become the weight’s prime mover, he could go from mono to monster in the length of a baseball offseason.

Did he succeed? The following stats say that is indeed so.

Before mono, Luke could deadlift 215 pounds one time. Recently, he’s done 5 reps in proper form at 315 pounds. His best squat before the illness had been a single rep going a bit past parallel with 185 pounds. Now he can go just as deep for one rep with 315 pounds.

He last weighed in at 177 pounds, 12 more than before mono, yet he’s carrying less body fat.

When I learned of these numbers, I learned something else even more noteworthy for the long term. Since starting this love-driven quest, Luke’s discipline has improved dramatically.

At first, I thought he was only talking about focusing during school. But he was talking about getting enough sleep and eating better, too.

“I now find it easier to avoid junk food,” he explained.

Before he got mono, he’d eat two and sometimes even three boxes of chocolate fudge Pop-Tarts a week. Now he limits himself to two single pastries every seven days, but doesn’t see it as a sacrifice.

His new normal has him “seek[ing] out healthier food options.” For instance, his previous beverage of choice, chocolate milk, has been replaced by chocolate protein shakes.

Now Luke’s as grounded as a guy can be who’s yet to turn 18. He realizes whether he gets a partial baseball scholarship is to some degree out of his control.

But his comeback from mono has made it clear to him that ultimately he’s in charge of his body and his health.

And that a really beneficial byproduct of giving your all to a high school sport is that it creates more than a love of that sport, but a love of giving your all. It’s a love he plans to sustain by lifting weights even when he’s old and gray.

While it is often said that small children teach you to appreciate the small things in life, it’s also true that as children grow so can their influence on you. You can even learn from them, if you’re willing to.

What I hope you learn from one large teen I just happen to be related to - besides making the best out of a bad situation - is to lift weights throughout the course of your life.