I was going to post some more entries from Nate’s tenth grade journal until I came upon this story in today’s New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/us/navigating-love-and-autism.html?_r=1&hp
Funny, yesterday at Christmas brunch next door, I was asked if I thought Nate would ever find a partner. In truth, I doubt it. I’ve asked him before whether he likes girls or boys, whether he’d want to get married to a girl or a boy, whether he’d want to have kids. He’s always non-committal. So, I’m not sure of his predilection. He’d probably like to settle down with a cartoon.
But this piece about two autistic young adults in a relationship (I wouldn’t quite call it love) gives me something to think about. I’ve found over time that I can have great conversations with Nate, as long as I’m meeting him on his turf. That seems to be one of the features of this relationship. Maybe there is a girl, or boy, out there for Nate, his own Kirsten, who can accept him for what he is.
Until I read today’s article, I couldn’t conceive of how that could happen. The very thought that Nate would have someone outside of his family who would understand him and be with him, if only for companionship, would be a Christmas miracle, like the birth of Jesus or the Knicks’ last second defeat of the Celtics.
