The Gift of Memory

My youngest son Sam has autism. There are many deficits present, but also gifts. One is his memory.?

Last night when we were leaving Pegah’s, the restaurant he and I eat at every Friday night at e-x-a-c-t-l-y the same time, he got way ahead of me and was at the door having a highly-animated conversation with a patron who I’d never met. The guy he was *grilling* was a few years younger than me, maybe 60, and was with a very shy young man about Sam’s age who appeared non-verbal or very close.?

Sam is 29 now. He will be 30 in early January. He remembered the young man from when he (Sam) was in 2nd Grade. The older patron (his dad?) told Sam the young man had attended multiple grade schools, but agreed he would have been in Overland Park Elementary about that time.?

Think about how the world changes between the time you’re 7 - 8 years-old and almost 30? Could you recognize someone you hadn’t seen in that length of time — factoring in that the other person isn’t able to speak much or at all and wasn’t even in the same classroom as you?

We didn’t talk long with these folks as Sam has to be on the road back to our house at e-x-a-c-t-l-y the same time, but it was long enough for me to be amazed. And thankful.?