Take notes. I wept after seeing Gus so excited for his dad. I have autism. Saying inappropriate things is what I do. You learn real fast to look down at your feet. You creep away. Pulling all your neurodivergent sorries with you. It is extremely obvious that Gus comes from a loving, smart family. We like to pretend that such a family is the norm. Usually, when bad things happen, I try to find an out-of-the-way place to rock. Never too hard. Sometimes, just a little bit. It’s difficult to find such a place. I have not felt safe in my entire life. Which is why I hate public toilets. You can rock in a toilet stall. No one can see you. I like being invisible. Invisibility is one thing. Invisibility while wearing the Normal Mask is double duty. I can be in public for about 30 minutes, and you would never know my secret secret. That I am headed to the next toilet stall so I can rock. Here’s the thing. How do you get anything done. Where’s the exit sign. Whenever I have read stuff from my books in bookstores, I need to know where the exit is, and I will need to see if it works. Exactly who am I hurting. I just see it all differently. And I am not asking your permission. All families are not loving, and they are not all smart, either. Mine was a meatgrinder. Seeing Gus Walz on this stage was something I never thought I would see. I do not know if it is representative of anything. What I do know is that there are a lot of people out there just like me. “That’s my Dad!” Yes. It is.