I've been driving my son Sam back and forth to work all this week. The truck he normally drives is in the body shop to repair a dent he put in it several months ago when he backed into the hitch on my horse trailer. He hasn't learned to drive a stick shift yet, and the truck is the only automatic we have, which is why I'm having to play chauffeur. I'd planned to replace my current vehicle with an automatic at some point so we wouldn't have this problem, but not long ago, he said he thought he should learn to drive a manual. And you know what? He probably will. When he's motivated, there are very few things he can't do.
Sam never ceases to amaze me--so much so that I made him a character in the book I'm currently rewriting. The interesting thing is, that when I originally wrote that story, I made the character the same age that Sam is now, but my predictions for him turned out to be incorrect. At the time, the idea of him driving a car was unthinkable, though I did give him a job and his own apartment. He had case worker to take him places back then, so that's how I wrote it.
In reality, he now has a job and can drive, but is still living at home. He has a girlfriend in the book, but as things now stand, there isn't a
real girlfriend in sight, which is unfortunate. Sam may be a little different in the way he displays affection, and he can be annoyingly frank at times, but I believe he'd make someone a good husband. Honest, dedicated, and reliable, he doesn't smoke, drink or take illegal drugs. He has a good sense of humor, though he can be a bit moody. He is in excellent physical condition and rarely gets sick. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't like him.
Sam has made an impact on others in ways I'm not even aware of. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Susie, the Special Ed teacher who taught him in grade school. She told me things about Sam I'd never heard before. For example, when the new principal arrived at the high school, he dreaded having to work with Sam. For what reason, I don't know, but by the time he graduated, Sam was one of his favorite students. He even told Susie that knowing Sam had changed his life. The speech he gave at graduation had me in tears because he talked more about Sam than any other student. The "diplomas" handed out during the ceremony are always empty folders, but because he wanted to be the one to put it in his hand, Sam's folder actually contained his diploma. I will never forget that moment until my dying day.
When I included Sam in that story, I was making a wish for him to find love and happiness someday. I still believe in that wish.
My regular blog followers all know that Sam is mildly autistic and has a language-based learning disability. But what you may not know is that
Stud is dedicated to him, and Tarq's character has the same learning disability that Sam does.
Sam will probably never read any of my books, nor will he understand the meaning of the dedication. But that's okay. I know what it means.
And now, so do you.
