Illiterations: Laughing At My Own Expense

These days, I occasionally catch myself remembering people who once were very central to my life but now are gone.  I can't think of even one that I miss anymore--if I ever did.  Some of them ducked out unexpectedly, over something so tiny I couldn't even identify a real reason.  Others left in a storm of disagreement.  Although, I'll say, the ones in the second category are rare.  I don't like drama, and don't seek it, and I don't like to fight.  I may be musing over these thoughts because July 4th is only a few days away, and it's the first really big holiday of the year (you know, the type where the entire country is kicking back and eating and drinking and NOBODY is at work).  On such holidays, as somebody who's spent so much of her life single, I consider who I'll be spending time with, and what I might be doing, if anything.  Holidays can be really quiet for single people.  I know my man will be out rescuing wildlife, or, perhaps, poppi...

I'm probably dating myself, but do you remember Superman before all the superheroes, and Superman's alter-ego Clark Kent? Clark had a love interest. It was Lois Lane. And he never fully told her everything he was doing. He always kept his secret even from her. She loved him and somewhere deep down he loved her. But he was afraid to reveal his deepest self and his truest truths to her. His secret was that he was Superman, and he was vulnerable in certain ways. He feared sharing his truth would also reveal his vulnerabilities and even though he loved her he still kept some distance by way of not disclosing who his alter-ego was. Sometimes I feel a little bit like Lois Lane. I know who his version of his Super-self is. He is not required to hide his true superhero alter-ego from the world. So, fortunately I suppose, his alter-ego and he are one and the same. Also, sweetly, I know his vulnerabilities. Perhaps not all of them. But I know many, and I know where his pain lies. But unl...