“Superheros”

by Lori Brower

I have finally begun the transition in coming back to work on a regular basis while still mourning the death of our son, Nick, four months ago.

I used to write regularly on his blog, keeping everyone updated. However, I stopped writing so I could begin healing. Lee has asked if I would consider writing again, but this time for the Empowered Wealth blog. Hmm, not sure what I can offer, but I am interested – perhaps writing is part of my healing.

It is my intent to share stories that relate to the Core, Experience and Contribution Assets areas. I’ll leave the Financial Quadrant to others… Through Nick’s journey, I have learned so much about gratitude, faith, kindness, heroes and families from other people hoping to help me in some way. They did. Now it is my hope to find and share experiences of others to bring to you, and perhaps we can all continue to learn, support and love together with our families and our communities.

To get my feet wet, so to speak, I will share my most recent “Empowered Moment” experience. Yesterday, I was asked to write a paragraph about our youngest daughter – Kelsey, age 15 – for a church event, which will showcase the talents of all of our daughters, honoring their achievements. The theme is “Go the Distance to be a Superhero.” Kelsey has had a difficult time the past few months and the only way she has expressed her anguish was through the decline in her playing ability on her competitive softball team. So I wrote what I could see in her:

She steps up to the plate hesitantly, heart pounding heavily. She takes a deep breath to try to clear her mind and as she taps her bat on the plate, she firmly tells herself not to cry, “I can do this!” She looks at the pitcher and places her weight on her right leg. She swings late on a fast pitch so steps away from the plate, takes a few more practice swings then faces the pitcher again. This time she watches the ball go by, hitting the catcher’s mitt with precision as the umpire declares, “strike 2!” This time as she steps away, the tears are near, her confidence shaken. Her heart still hurts; she is missing her brother today. Thinking of him, she can hear His voice, “C’mon, Kels… let’s go, you can do this.” With her chin up, she faces the pitcher again. As the pitcher throws her next pitch, the ball seems as big as a basketball and Kelsey hits it soundly with her perfect swing. This is Kelsey – healing, athletic, spiritual, intelligent, young, vulnerable, resilient and beautiful. Only a superhero could endure what she has experienced in her life at such a tender age and only a superhero can hold her head up to face the next pitch, ready to go the distance.

Next week I will write about someone else’s experience, someone else’s message, someone else’s “Empowered Moment”. Until then, I will leave you with the question: Who is your superhero today and have you told them why?