Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Kennedy: The boy who always remembers everything

As parents get older, the ability to remember things seem to be given to their children. This photo has been run through the Prisma photo app.
As parents get older, the ability to remember things seem to be given to their children. This photo has been run through the Prisma photo app. As parents get older, the ability to remember things seem to be given to their children. This photo has been run through the Prisma photo app.

By Mark Kennedy 4 min read

photo Mark Kennedy

There were two boys with the same obscure first name born on a late October day in 2006 at Parkridge East Hospital. Sometimes I wonder if we brought the correct child home.

As fiercely as I love our younger son, he seems to be from another planet – like Mork from Ork. For example, he has an unassailable memory while the rest of the family seems to wander around in a mental fog.

“Son, have you seen my black coffee cup?” I asked him in exasperation the other day. “It’s my favorite cup, and I think I’ve lost it. I haven’t seen it in a week. It’s very upsetting, actually.”

“It’s on the front porch beside the rocking chair where you left it last Saturday morning while you were reading the newspaper,” he said.

Dang.