A Hole in the Sky

“Are you going to keep your ball, Doug?” asked the young man with the baseball cap.

“Sure. Maybe grandpa dropped it there from Heaven,” said Doug.

“Just maybe he did help, Doug, but I think you hit it on your own. This one’s for you to keep, buddy,” said the friend as he plucked the ball from the metal lined hole and handed it to Doug. 

Doug’s eyes glanced quickly to the ball and then up toward the sky. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.     

Three young men learned something that day in October, 1991 that will hopefully travel with them for the rest of their lives. They learned that, although handicapped by the syndrome of autism, one of their own experienced a triumph in a golfer’s life by making a hole-in-one, and they too, were sure that Doug’s grandpa was watching down.