Stand By Me could have been the story of many parts of my childhood. (Like so many other readers I'm sure.) I recall my mother saying to me in the late 60's when I was ten: "Why do you hang out with that boy Jimmy, he sits around with his mouth hanging open and looks like a retard?"
(It was the late sixties, not politically correct.)
"Mom!" I said, "He had nerve damage to his jaw and it sags unless he is chewing or talking," I shook my head. "That's mean."
"He still looks retarded," she insisted, "what will people think?"
Our losers club would go off on adventures on our bikes, riding trails thru the woods, taking a jon boat down the river, and camping out. It WAS a different time.
Who ever did have friends like that had back then?