“When I’m (John’s expression) ‘Yogified,’ I
take things in stride. If I’m not taking care
of myself, I’m not so great at being mellow
and understanding.”
lotherian (lover of animals), Phytophilous (loves
plants), Nemophilist (loves the woods), and
Rockhound (one who collects rocks).
Zoom: Tell us how the love story began. How did
you meet John, and was it love at first sight?
Maripat: John and I met when I called on his
business for the business magazine I owned. I
describe that first meeting on my blog I Married
a Geek (Begin at the Beginning). It wasn’t love at
first sight because we were both married. John
fascinated me because I love people who are “different.” We were friends for a couple of decades
before circumstances had both of us single at the
same time and John asked me out.
Zoom: Did you know about autism and Asperger’s before John?
Maripat: No, but I knew about epilepsy, ADHD,
and IEPs because two of my kids were neuro-diverse, so it was easy to comprehend the spectrum
and what people might be going through.
Zoom: Blending a family is not easy. How did
you two make it work?
Maripat: Early on, John talked about how he’d
observed that the trouble in blended families
starts when you don’t treat the kids equally, and
we strive to do that. It’s so important to be generous and have an open heart. When all else fails,
let your conscience be your guide, and just do the
right thing.
Zoom: Tell us something that not everyone
knows about John but that you think is kind of
cool.
Maripat: He LOVES mowing the lawn, wields
a mighty chainsaw, and uses our big tractor to
plow the snow off our street (and some neighbors’ driveways) in winter. He does that because
he’s geeked out with the machines and is also a
really nice guy.
Maripat, John and Margaret (John’s mother)
26
Zoom Autism Through Many Lenses
Two years ago we had a freak blizzard on Halloween. Because the trees were still leafed out,
many came down, blocking a linking road that
the whole town uses. John and Julian (Maripat’s
son) suited up, went out for hours and cleared
the road by themselves. What’s more, when a
man living on the street came out and offered
John another chain saw to use, John didn’t even
yell at him. He just asked the guy, “Don’t you