WHY I LOVE 'THE BATMAN'

I’m not a superhero fan, to be honest.

And it’s not merely because there are just too many of them trying to take our hard-earned $$$ on an almost weekly schedule (so it seems).

I just find most of them are so fake and hard to believe.

Most of them are from a bygone era, when audiences wanted to believe in a dichromatic universe where people are either good or evil, right or wrong.

Yet, if we’re honest about the person looking back at us in the mirror, each and every one of us human beings possesses a plethora of facets that reflect a multitude of colours.

And I suspect that’s how we’re supposed to see our world - not as black and white, or various shades of grey. We should delight in the 10 million + different colours our eyes have been designed to enjoy.

And that’s why I like Batman.

Having discussed the whole ‘favourite superhero’ thing with a few people over many years, I think that pretty much everyone who’s concurred with me about Batman being the best of them is because ‘The Bat’ is honest about who he really is.

He had a troubled upbringing that impacted him in many ways, some good and some definitely leaning the other way.

And he’s quite open about having a dark side that he must monitor and manage to ensure he doesn’t sabotage his reputation and ability to catch those who choose to let their dark side reign in ways that kill, steal and destroy.

To be honest, I relate to Batman. Finding the balance between ‘love thy neighbour’ and ‘an eye for an eye’ is a battle many of us face deep within our hearts and minds.

And I suspect that everyone who sees Batman as the best superhero probably feels the same.

But what has that got to do with the subtitle of this post, i.e. ‘It’s one of the main reasons I adore my wife’?

< For those who have seen the Batmen TV series, hopefully, the image above included the “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na” scene transition sound in your head >

Well, as my subscribers know, I’m currently writing KJ’s story for her son from a previous marriage. I’m aiming to complete it by 20 August, the first anniversary of her passing, which is approaching way too speedily.

Last week, I wrote the introduction, a personal message to KJ’s son.

It was probably bad timing, seeing as last week was also our first wedding anniversary that I had to commemorate without my beautiful KJ. It certainly hit me hard for a few days. And I had some dark thoughts about those who could have saved her life. If only they had told her about the well-researched dangers of lobular breast cancer and how mammograms will fail to find it in over 80% of women with extremely dense breast tissue, and the simple things KJ could have done to make it more likely to detect such an insidious disease before it progresses to an advanced and oft-hopeless stage.

Man, I wanted to ‘Batman’ them so bad!

In the name of justice, of course!

However, before I get too distracted with such thoughts that I’m quite sure you can relate to if you’re honest, let’s get back to the introduction of KJ’s story.

I was chatting about it with someone this week. And when I told them how I was telling her story ‘warts and all,’ he was shocked. I suspect he expected me to present my wife’s story as one of purity, virtue and glory.

However, as I told him, doing that would greatly dishonour her.

Only a week or two before she passed on, when I asked her what she considered to be her three greatest personal strengths, she instantly replied, ‘I hope people will remember me most of all for being honest and authentic.’

Although she took a while to reply with her other two character traits, she had no hesitation whatsoever about what she saw as her greatest facet.

Having shared a lifetime with her in so few years, I can only agree. It’s one of the primary reasons why I fell for her so fast. It was impossible to miss her wholehearted desire to be honest, though not in an unguarded or foolish way. She was wise with what she shared with whom. Yet, she also knew that her personal transparency would empower others to overcome their enemies and win their battles.

For a hero can only be a true hero because they overcome obstacles that oppose who they are and what they are doing.

And, as any honest person knows, the greatest opponent we face in this life is the one staring back at us in the mirror.

As you can hopefully tell, this post has been a bit raw for me. So I’m going to finish it now with the closing words of my personal note to KJ’s son about her story.

I hope that these words will be a truth that reflects your life too - as one that is just as well lived as my beautiful KJ’s.

It is only when we can talk openly and honestly without getting out-of-control emotionally about the scars we carry that we are truly strong in heart & soul, and ready to face anything, including death.

Your mum was one of the strongest people in heart & soul that I’ve ever known.

And she faced death in a way that most others won’t - with honesty, integrity, and a gritty, immovable faith that was shaped over many years by the story you are about to read.

Thanks for reading my post. However, as I am not a mind-reader, I need you to click the heart-shaped LIKE button to both encourage me & to let me know that you enjoyed this post. Even better, leave a comment so you can tell me what you really think (please, be kind, yet honest).