To the editor:
I was raised across the street from the Dubois family many years ago. I went to school with the girls, Debbie and Gail, the latter later the late Don Wing’s wife.
As an older adult it turned out that I bought the house right next door to Don’s mother-in-law.
On a regular basis she would babysit Don’s and Debbie’s dogs and he would come and pick them up after his day was over.
One day he pulled up in the driveway at the back of the house while my son Jarod was close by in our yard, playing on his favourite swing set.
The first few times this happened Don would say hello to Jarod with a big smile and then continue on his way.
On the third or fourth time Don picked up the dogs he got out of his car and walked over to the back fence and started talking to Jarod.
I could see my son enjoyed having a conversation with Don as he was smiling and talking a mile a minute.
I could not hear what he was saying, but he was talking and that was special.
As the weeks turned into months and months turned into years, Don always made it a point to wave and say hello to my son or stop and have lengthy conversations as he leaned on the old wooden fence dividing our back yard and the Dubois’ driveway.
Sometimes he would even bring him a treat or two. He knew Jarod loved gum and candy.
I know this doesn’t sound unusual, but you would have to understand that while most people turned away from my son, Don, a perfect stranger, made it a point to do the opposite.
My Jarod is autistic and now at the age of 14 is considered what they term as high functioning, but when he was younger he was very difficult to understand.
Most would not even try to take the time to comprehend what he was trying so hard to convey.
They chose the more comfortable route, which was to ignore him.
What Don chose to do was out of the ordinary, and although I never knew him personally, I will never forget his acts of kindness to my son during our years on Miles Street.
Thank you, Don.
Jan Dromisky-Landry,
Thunder Bay
