Thread by @humansofny

(1/7) “For my eighth birthday I received a Barbie dollhouse that I’d been dreaming about for months. Gene wanted to play with it too—because he loved all things make-believe. But after a few hours he sat down on the dollhouse and crushed it..."

(2/7) “When Gene was in fifth grade, his teacher stood him up in the front of the class. I forget what he did. Maybe he’d forgotten his homework or something. But she stood him up in front of all the other kids, and said..."

(3/7) “I’m old now. I’m fifty. But I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. Gene and I were sitting on the living room couch. Both of us are convinced we’re getting in trouble—so we’re starting to pre-bond. We’re huddled together, we’re holding hands..."

(4/7) “Gene changed when he learned the truth. He’d spent his whole life thinking that he’d been in some horrible accident. That his disability had been a stroke of bad luck—like an earthquake, or a meteor. And there was some comfort in that. But suddenly..."

(5/7) “One afternoon the Mormons came knocking on our door, and Gene just let them right in. They were so friendly. He couldn’t get enough of them. And they loved Gene too, because he really is the perfect audience. He’ll agree with everything you say..."

(6/7) “When I was a little boy I protected my sister from that guy. So I think it’s a happy story and a sad story. The sadness that has happened to me, and the happy side of me. For a long time I thought that God wouldn’t love somebody like me..."

(7/7) “I made the mistake of googling him. When we decided to do this story, I looked him up, to see what happened when he got out of jail. And I discovered some cutesy newspaper article about his 25th wedding anniversary. There was a picture there..."