Odd Talents

Everyone in our family has some sort of quirky talent.

I for example have an inane ability to name any movie I’ve seen since the age of 8 and tell you the name and/or location of the movie theatre I saw it in AND whom I saw it with. I know…completely useless. I also have the ability to think of a random feature film, and within 7 days, said feature film will air on TBS and/or TNT.

Rashele has an uncanny ability to read my mind. Within seconds of me thinking even the most remote, random thought Rashele will ask me something on that very subject. She truly creeps me out sometimes and I’m convinced that somehow she’s implanted some unknown alien mind-reading technology in my brain while I slept.

Kyler can flip his tongue upside down, both to the left, and to the right. I’ve been told only 1 in 1000 can do it.

Claire-Marie has the weird eyebrow arching thing she does, and she can belch louder than any 7 year old girl should. Crazy.

Mason however has the oddest, yet most amazing talent. Claire-Marie named it perfectly over the past Christmas holidays. While riding in the car with my brother and his wife she commented to them.... "You know those digital things that you can have in your car that tell you which way to drive?"

My brother replied, "You mean a GPS?"

"Yes", Claire-Marie said, "A GPS, we have one, we call him Mason"

In our family he is known as The Human GPS.

We noticed years ago shortly after his diagnosis, that he has an uncanny sense of direction.

At age 3, days before the school year started we attended the open house of the school that he would be attending in our local district. The school, 20 minutes from our home, was a myriad of twists and turns and a difficult route for any child of his age to memorize.

But memorize he did.

On the first day of school, a few days after our open house visit we made our way towards school to drop him off on his first official day. As I approached the final right turn still 1.5 miles away from the school driveway I turned on my right blinker.

NO!
NO!
NO!

(One of the few words he spoke at the time)

He knew exactly where we were headed and he was already digging his heels in.

Left at the stop sign

NO!
NO!
NO!

Heels dug deeper.

Rashele and I looked at each other incredulous, not comprehending how on earth he knew where we were going when he’d only been to this building one time previously. Surely his memory couldn’t be that good, could it?

It was.

Since that fateful day we’ve realized that Mason never gets lost. He knows the location of every railroad crossing w/in a 10 mile radius of our house. He knows that if we are at the corner of University Ave and I-30 in Fort Worth, 60 miles from our home in Frisco, that we’re only a few blocks from the Fort Worth Zoo. A place we visit maybe twice a year.

Currently our daily routine at the end of the school day is to allow Mason to give exact turn by turn directions from his school to our driveway.

I learned last week if he says RIGHT to turn right, even if by doing so I know I’m going the long way. To disobey his order will cause a massive 1 hour meltdown (as I learned last Wednesday)

While I’m still learning everyday how his brain works I’ve realized that I can’t ever take for granted those “quirks” he has.

They are what makes Mason, Mason