They all have superpowers, you know.
Hidden, of course.
I know one who has the power to read in bed at night without falling asleep. Woe to the parent who forgets to tell her to turn out the light. The more tired she becomes, the harder it is for her to fall asleep.
I know another who can make herself heard in any situation.
Another can make you see into the future with nothing but a flash of his hands or the presence of his broadening shoulders.
They are creatures of mystery. And no, they are not miniature adults, but they are short humans. It’s up to the taller humans to figure out the difference in any given situation.
All of them can turn the world upside down.
A certain mother, who thought once—before children—that she knew something about maturity, celebrated a birthday recently. She doesn’t feel older. She cannot remember feeling older on any birthday, ever. She figures if all goes well she still has more than half a life to live. But more than once, now, she has almost crashed the car when one of the short humans in the back seat shrieked, “Mom!!! Your hair is turning white!” She has had more faults and flaws pointed out than she cares to think about, especially the ones she thought were maybe not so noticeable.
Take note of that superpower as well: the ability to see all, and then some.
This mother doesn’t get quite as excited about her birthday as she did when she was shorter. She remembers the excitement, but getting older doesn’t feel as glamorous as it used to. Then again, she doesn’t always take into consideration the special powers of the people around her. They do, after all, see things differently. This birthday one of them wanted to know how old she was.
“Forty one,” she answered, determined that a real lady has no need to be coy about her age.
“Forty one?! Wow! You are awesome!”
“And what, exactly, is so awesome about forty one?”
“Well. It’s what you are!”
That’s an especially strong superpower: that mixture of love and grace that can make one of the tall people feel 100 times bigger and 100 times smaller, all at the same time. Take note of that one, too.
