Having Asperger’s and parents who were in denial about it will mess you up.
They were proud of my perfect brother, but ashamed of me.
My father would tell people that I was from his wife’s first marriage, so don’t look at him.
My mother would tell people that I was from her husband’s first marriage, so don’t look at her.
I was the sick joke they shared.
So when my father died and my dementia-ridden mother was left destitute, the retirement home called.
“Don’t look at me,” I said. “I’m from her husband’s first marriage.”
And I hung up.