A few weeks ago, photographer Ben Read and I shared the story of Lucas Guzzino. Lucas is a 12-year old boy with autism spectrum disorder. He loves swimming, gymnastics, running and, most of all, plumbing.
“The exciting part is repairing toilets or faucets,” Lucas said to me with unbridled excitement.
“How-to books on plumbing would be his leisure reading, and that’s what he would take on long car trips,” admitted Lucas’s mother, Pam. “He got a Black and Decker plumbing book for Christmas and it came with a DVD, and that was his favorite DVD,” added Dave, Lucas’ father.
“I do want to be a plumber when I grow up,” Lucas said with certainty.
Well. The secret’s out.
Sean Edwards, a recently-retired business agent for the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union (U.A. Local 22), saw our story on Lucas. “So, I was speaking to a retiree that came in and the following day he says, ‘Man, we should do something with this young man’. So, I called you, Jonah, and here we are celebrating this young man’s plumbing abilities.”
