Secret Superpowers

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a pretty emotional guy. I don't often get angry (although when I do, watch out), but little things will often cause the adam's apple to rise, the lips to quiver, and the eyes to get a little misty. Hollie will often turn to me during a not-especially-weepy movie to find that my lips are pressed into a firm line while I'm clearly suppressing (not always successfully) the urge to weep openly.

Titanic? Wept for an hour when I was 17. Where the Wild Things Are? At least three times. Old Yeller? Seriously, what is this, some kind of emotional torture device designed by Disney for the sole purpose of making boys cry?

For about the last four weeks (about the time we think we found out it's a girl), though, the big thing to get me? Thinking about all the good and bad; opportunities and trials; and happiness and disappointment my daughter will face in her life. Yeah, yeah, I know. Could I be more melodramatic. Probably not.

But I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning, and this story played. It's just one of a special series of stories this year as part of a project called the Hidden World of Girls. The story in question was simply about one woman, science fiction writer Pat Cadigan, who, inspired as a child by The Day the Earth Stood Still, created a secret fantasy world with her best friend.

They imagined they were super-powered twins from Venus sent to Earth to secretly help those in need. The fact that those they deemed most in need were The Beatles, Superman and Wonderwoman shows that geekery knows no bounds of time or gender, even in the 1960s.

But the part that got me welling up a little was this: Even though they continued to play and create in their secret world well into their teens, they eventually grew apart. Lives move along, as lives tend to do, and this relationship that was so important when they were younger suddenly had no relevance to their grownup world. It's a loss of innocence, and although it's completely normal part of growing up, it struck me as sad.

I'm excited for my daughter to get here. I really am. I want to see her grow and mature and experience all that life has to offer. I just hope we can stave off that loss of innocence for as long as we can. Surely the world will always need a few secret superheroes.