Benjamin has been making Venn Diagrams for a while. If memory serves, the elephants led the way, when he differentiated between African and Indian varieties. Next was desserts, which are a perennial favorite with him. He noticed the glaring differences between jello, which is never chocolate, and ice cream, which does not wiggle, and pudding, which is not offered in strawberry. Recently, he utilized photographs in his work, which he labeled as a Presentation on Google Docs and emailed to his family. When I was his age, I considered myself fancy to use colored pencils. 

 

He did not quite master getting the descriptors in the same circles with the pictures, but we understood. Some corners deserve to be cut. Which for him does not include punctuation in a text. 

 

Being a mother to a young adult with difference was not on my bucket list when I was in my twenties. But God is playing a long game, one that stretches me outside the predictable parameters I once clung to. I expected bickering between siblings, and heaps of laundry. But recalibrating what it means to find joy was outside of my peripheral vision. 

 

Ben's diagrams give me a peek into how he thinks, which is sweeter than a wiggly dessert.