Our Own Forrest Gump

If you know Ben at all, he dreams large and when one dream comes true, he moves right on to the next dream. Each dream seems bigger and unreachable to his mom but never to Ben.

During his presentations to school, businesses and organizations, Ben talks about the word, "perseveration" or "having lots of stuck thoughts". The thought he has been stuck on for over 2 years is to meet the president. It really wouldn't matter who was in office, he just really wanted to meet the president. He reached out through social media to everyone he could think of to see if there were any connections that would make this dream a reality and he got close several times.

We really thought it was going to happen at this year's Army/Navy football game that was held at Lincoln Financial field. The president was supposed to attend and Ben's wonderful game day staff management were making the arrangements for a quick meet and greet during the game. Ben called on his break to tell me:

"President Biden did not come but I got to meet the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, who came in his place."

This encounter is a story unto itself, and you will have to ask Ben for all of those details.

This week, Ben received an email inviting him, and only him, to attend President Biden's speech at the Navy Yard. We believe he was invited after participating in some events in Harrisburg to increase awareness around autism.

To say Ben was thrilled is an understatement. To set appropriate expectations, we were very clear with Ben that he would not get to meet the President. We described how the President would be ushered on to the podium surrounded by secret service agents and then whisked away when he was done. Ben heard us, but didn't believe that he would not have a chance to finally make this dream come true. I call myself Kite String Mom for this very reason. I want to watch Ben soar but it is my job to keep him grounded.

Ben got up at 6:30 am, took the train from Colmar to the Broad Street Subway to NRG Station and then boarded the Navy Yard Loop bus (who knew that even such a thing existed??) Ben later told me that when the train arrived at Colmar it had Wilmington, Delaware listed as it's destination and Ben took this as a positive omen that his dream was in the making as this is Biden's hometown.

The rest, as they say is history. Ben charmed all of the people that he met with his infectious "Benergy" and they were all rooting for him to meet the president. You can see in this video, even Biden's Secret Service are helping Ben's dream come true. His smile says it all and of course, mom was wrong again! I'll never hear the end of this one!

We just feel like Ben is our own Forrest Gump, living one grand adventure after another and always leaving us speechless. Here are some of his finest Forrest Gump moments!

Eagles Ring Ceremony

Ellen DeGeneres Show with Jon Dorenbos

Winning big on The Price is Right with Drew Carey

The Newsboys

Big Boy Brandon Graham

Jason Kelce and Snoopy

Temple Grandin

Dan DiZio - Philly Pretzel Factory

Joel Manby and Anthony Esparza Herschend Family Entertainment

Ben, I wish all your dreams will continue to come true as you spread your "Benergy" with everyone you meet!

What could possibly be next???????

Love you more...

Mom