I have a super friend. No, it’s not a best friend. Nor is it anyone who will spend hours with me chatting on the phone. It’s not even another carpool chauffeur. It’s a real, live super friend.
Superfriends may come in any size, but most often, they come in sizes 4 to 6X. They really prefer an array of costumes depicting the super-best. However, the lack of costume does not thwart a true super friend. Why, an old blue apron can be as fine a cape as any store bought one.
As summer came to a close, my super friend was AQUAMAN. He wanted to spend most of his waking hours submerged in the nearest pool or the ocean’s surf. He saw himself strong enough to capsize any boat - and, many a friend’s rubber raft was toppled as he came up under it. He was himself able to corral and ride the seahorses - and many an older relative relented and let him ride the waves sitting on their shoulders. Clad only in a skin tight tank suit, he knew he was envy of all the other beach boys as he romped in the sand under the sun.
Last week, my superfriend was BATMAN - dressed out in blue and gray. His ever-ready bike could be a Batmobile, a Batboat or a Batplane, whatever the occasion demanded. He represented good over evil. He conquered all the old villains - The Joker, the Penguin, Cat woman - at least all that he could remember from TV. He also subdued a few new ones - a struggling geranium plant finally gave up against him. So did his sister.
When an older brother sometimes condescended to keep him company, my super friend readily gave up his role of Batman for the more youthful one of ROBIN, the ever faithful companion of the caped crusader. As Robin, he followed the hero that he admires so much and the brother that he wants to equal. That was the afternoon that the tree branch gave way to the weight of two super friends.
This week, he has changed costumes again. Now, he’s ready to leap tall buildings in a single bounce, to be faster than a speeding bullet and powerful than a locomotive. He’s a bird! He’s a plane! No! He’s SUPERMAN! A super-buddy decked out in the discarded Batman suit, whispers confidentially, “He thinks he can fly!” And so he does. For in that captivating realm of his imagination, he can fly, he can leap tall buildings, he can win, he can conquer, he is super hero - Superman. And anyone who sees him atop the stack of firewood knows that he’s lost in the magical wonderland of pretending.
But when darkness draws near and he’s tired from his endless adventures of the day, he hangs up his capes and puts any his daydreams for tomorrow. On occasion - with much less frequency than last year- he may crawl in Mother’s lap and give her an accounting of the day’s activities. And on those rare, rare occasions when he’s contented to sit still, to let her hold him, to allow her imagination to wander back to days when he wanted to be held much of the time, she’s very much aware that her super friend is growing up and away. But for the moment, he’s MIGHTY like a MOUSE.
1974
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