Super Heroes

When I was young, oh about 11 or 12, I'd drop into a five and dime store on Main Street in Myerstown. If I was lucky enough to have a nickel or dime in my possession I'd gladly spend it on a comic book. It was the only place to find a comic book in town.

Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, for me it was an early appreciation for graphics, illustration, and publishing at large. I scoured each comic book that I was lucky enough to get my hands on. It was one of the first things I wanted to spend my hard earned nickels on. Later came candy and baseball cards.

In many of these comic book tales ordinary people became extraordinary after accidental exposure to radiation. I'm still waiting to see what super power radiation bestows on me.

Since I took the radiation to the head, perhaps I'll be able to read minds, or shoot laser beams from my eyes! I don't think the radiation is going to turn my nature of goodwill to a mindset of evil bent on ruling the world. Please warn me if you see any indication of that!

But even when I was a young kid with a nickel in his pocket, I knew that super heroes were only fun fantasy, just a tickle to the imagination. But the comic books weren't really that far off.

When I see all of the people fighting cancer, or those who have fought cancer, people of all ages from little tiny guys and gals to our elders, they all remind me of super heroes. When I hear stories of what people have endured, how bravely they've fought their disease while feeling at their weakest, it's inspirational.

To see a three-year-old with cancer smiling ear to ear, running and playing while feeling completely lousy, you see a comic book super hero in real life.