Hayden?
When I was in second grade there was a student in our class that was mentally challenged but still relatively functional, his name was Hayden. I went to a very high quality elementary school so there was general acceptance of Hayden and he was in our regular class with all the other kids. I don't know why, maybe because my mother worked in special education but I truly wanted to be friends with him to where once we got to third grade my closest friend Charlie and I would play with him at recess every day. I remember one day in second grade that is again a memory stuck in my mind and haunts me with pain.
It began in our classroom by the assignment to switch where we were sitting at our desks to the main carpet. The desks were assigned by name but there were no specific sitting places on the carpet. I was close to the carpet and sat down first and when Hayden walked by I had a feeling like hey I want him to sit next to me, so instead of words, I was 6 years, I tried to grab his hand but accidently scratched him. I think it may have hurt him, but was a light scratch to which afterwards he went to the teacher to tell her I scratched him. The best thing I could have done was explain my true intention, that I wanted to be friends with Hayden and that it was ok if he wanted to sit next to me. Instead I said he scratched me first and I have no idea why but the teacher just told us not to scratch each other and go sit on the carpet to where the open seats were apart from each other so I didn't get to sit next to Hayden.
While most students accepted Hayden, the majority didn't actively try and interact with him and play with him at recess, but myself, and I give high credit to my friend Charlie, always tried to play with him as if he was normal. After third grade Hayden was transferred to another school, so I never saw him after that. However, years down the line, I can't remember if it was Facebook or Myspace, but I found that Hayden hade a profile, likely started by his older sister.
Hayden's older sister was very caring towards him and helped him out tremendously throughout his youth. Anyways I added Hayden as a friend and sent him a message detailing how I wanted to say sorry if any of the kids at school mistreated him that it was just a lack of education of differences. It was about a page long just me wishing the best for him. He never responded and his profile went away after a couple of years. I wonder what it would be like to see him now, honestly I would rather see him again than either of my parents or grandparents, excluding my grandmother Jane. See how life has treated him and offer any kind of help or guidance he may need. I miss you Hayden and I hope that you are doing well and hopefully one day in this life or the next I will see you again.