The People in my Neighborhood

[morrigirl]

There's this autistic boy who lives in my mother's neighborhood. For years we've seen him in the street taking walks with his mother. Just a few minutes ago, while absent-mindedly flipping channels, I came across a documentary on WLIW all about this kid. His name is Mark and his mother's name is Margaret. The show followed Mark and his parents as they just went about their lives. There was ample footage of him talking to people on the bus, befriending a homeless man panhandling outside the Food Emporium on 90th, and just reveling in the streets where I grew up and the stores that define the neighborhood. They showed him practicing for his bar mitzvah in the synagogue next to my mother's apartment building. He was obviously way older than 13 but it took his friends and family a while to realize that Mark was capable of doing the things required of a man on his bar mitzvah. The copyright on the documentary was 2006 and the epilogue said that Mark is now in a job training program and his parents are looking for an assisted living residence for him.

I really really liked it because here's this guy who I have known by sight since I was a teenager. And now I know a little about who he is and who his parents are and what sort of person he has grown into. I know I won't do it, but I wish I could go up to him the next time I see him in the street and say "Hey, I know you! Hi Mark!"