How to be a Superhero
I discovered my mom was a superhero when I was five.
She had been having a bad day, yelling at me for dumping a pail of water on the basement floor even though, obviously, as Cinderella, I needed a foul mess before I could scrub on my hands and knees. She threw away a masterpiece of clay, Kleenex, and glue curing on her antique library table. And she made fish for lunch, even though she knew I didn’t like fish.
After lunch she put Cinderella to work scrubbing the hallway, and I scowled at her like she was my evil stepmother. But when I reached the end of the hall, I peeked through the crack of her bedroom door and caught her stretched out on her bed wearing her superhero mask.
I ran outside and hid behind her fern garden. I imagined how the dark circles under her eyes were won through a long night of fighting crime. I had been taxing her patience with silly games when she probably had another villain to conquer and alien beings to banish from the galaxy after she tucked me in bed.
I’d been a fool to miss the family superhero secret. Mom baked cakes, chopped firewood, grew our food and flowers, and managed charity events. She accomplished the impossible, and people often whispered how amazing she was.
I tiptoed behind her for weeks, trying to uncover the depth of her superpowers. She had eyes in the back of her head—I was sure of that. Now that I thought about it, mind reading was a distinct possibility along with super hearing and strength. But what if she fired laser beams through her fingertips the next time I finger painted on a tax document?
Other than teaching myself to knit, I was talentless and powerless. I worried about my ability to carry on what must surely be the secret family business.
As the years passed, I learned the most important superhero lessons when mom’s cape fell off and her mask was exposed as an icepack with cucumbers slices hidden beneath. It turned out that Mom’s various costumes were merely decorations to build confidence and never concealed her true identity as a hero.
The newest generation of our family superheroes continues to amaze me. I miss my super mom every day, but my super kids remind me that the real hero secret is to join together and rely on one another.
Find your team and spend more time building one another up than battling the evil forces.
Superheroes never work alone.
