I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but once, when he was about three, I saw him go over to some other kids on the playground who were playing in the sandbox and ask if he could join them. They said yes, and he got in, but as he did, they all got up and ran over to the jungle gym and left him there alone. They didn’t say anything, they didn’t call him names, but how could he see their departure as anything other than what it was—a rejection? But the worst thing is what happened after: He sat there in the sandbox, looking at them, and then he slowly began playing by himself. Every few
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