The Girlfriend

The boy has a girlfriend. Many of you won't know or understand the significance of this. I do have my son's permission to tell his stories--more awareness is always better and it's not anything that embarrasses him. Zac has Asperger's Syndrome. For him, it's a mild form of this syndrome that lives on the Autism Spectrum. But, it's enough that the only reason he has a wonderful "posse" of friends is because of those friends' acceptance and tolerance. And, the only reason he has a girlfriend is that she pursued him and also accepts him for who he is. They accept that he has his quirks and lacks social grace.

She needed to get permission from her parents to "see" Zac. She's a freshman and I totally understand where her parents are coming from. I'll be there in too short of a time. But, initially they judged his book by the cover and didn't like what they saw. But, he dutifully (and nervously) went for a visit to meet them (after a lot of coaching at home). They did see MY Zac and how he is NOT a big bad senior out to break their baby's heart...

While most parents would be concerned at this stage about touching, intimacy and all the scary stuff that goes along with teenage dating, we are in the unique position of cheering him on and still wondrous that he is actually allowing physical closeness AND that he is returning gestures. And of course, trying not to laugh out loud when this blunt, literal guy asks me about the mechanics of kissing, open mouth kissing and french kissing! While I'm thrilled that he is comfortable enough to come to me with these things (and more--believe me), I truly hope that he stops sharing so much in the next few years. Just like we never wanted to know that much about our parents--I really don't want to know that much about my college son's experiences. Just enough to know that he's staying safe and I'll be content.