My Secret

One time, right before he perished, my sixth uncle told me, "With great power, comes great responsibility." It took me a long time to understand the meaning of those words, that my uncle wasn't simply pulling my leg, and I finally "got it" in an epiphany this past Wednesday night.

Not too many people know this, but when I was five years old, the family doctor diagnosed me with a rare form of autism. Recognizing that my days were numbered, my mom placed me in a reed basket and set me afloat on the shore of Lake Ontario, trusting that the wind and the currents would carry me off to a fabled fisherman and his wife who could cure my autism. However, due to being an obese five year old, the basket was crushed under my weight and the plan had to be scrapped.

All my life I've struggled under the secret burden of my autism. Every day I have to deal with ruined conversations, awkward pauses, and sudden slappings from irate women. Autism has left its toll on my ravaged body. On Wednesday, everything changed.