L uke shows up each weekday, suited up and waiting out by the Grant track for Sean. But he's autistic and on the Grant cross-country team. That is an accomplishment. A s they wind around the course, a few tiny beads of sweat build up on Sean's forehead. His stride is more relaxed now.
Cheers echo up ahead on the course as the leaders fight for position.
T hey're mere background to Luke's encouraging words. We're almost there. T he classroom walls of the school are daunting for Sean, the only child of Kathy and John Henley. He doesn't like being cooped up, his mother says. That's why Grant High's cross-country team has been a magical place for Sean to land.