when i was a little girl, i finally had a chance to meet my favorite superhero, spiderman. he happened to be at the montgomery wards store at our local mall at the same time as i was. i saw this as fate. i could not have been more excited, as he’d been one of my idols for as long as i could remember.

waiting in line, anxious, hopping with joy, i finally made my way up to the front to meet him. i was shy, but i was motivated, and i asked him to ‘shoot the webs’ for me. it was one of my favorite superpowers and i’d seen him do it on tv many times, enabling him to fly from building to building, saving people, and meting out justice to the bad guys. i pictured him climbing up the super strong silk to get to the top of the store.

i remember his reaction to my quiet but earnest request. he just looked at me for a moment, smiled, held up his wrists, the place where the webs originated from, and then – nothing happened. it was my turn to stare at him then, put my head down and felt bad for him, and for me, said thank you, and walked away, back to my family, lost in the mall crowd once again. 

—

‘wisdom comes by disillusionment.’

-george santayana

 

THEN YESTERDAY, WHEN I WALKED INTO AN OFFICE SUPPLY STORE

LOOK WHO GREETED ME

60 YEARS LATER!

this time 

a little older and wiser

 i had low expectations

plus

he was now a balloon.