SUPERHERO

Everyone loves a Superhero!  But not all superheroes are alike. Not all superheroes wear brightly colored tights and a satin cape. My superhero wears sassy boots and smartly tailored clothes. Not all superheroes fly off into the night sky to a dramatic soundtrack. My superhero drives off into the sunset in a sensible car while listening to her "secret" soundtrack of choice...disco.  Not all superheroes have X-ray vision for added sight ability or laser vision to melt things. My superhero wears chic glasses but they don't help her see through steal plated bank vaults. It is her heart and talents that help her see right through people and sense their moods and feelings. Not all superheroes have a secret lair.  My superhero's secret lair is cleverly disguised as a comfy office... complete with plush couches, throw rugs, a snoring bulldog named Lilly, and a warm inviting atmosphere that welcomes everyone.  Not all superheros have a sidekick. My superhero doesn't have a sidekick, she has a whole team of sidekicks! Her team is friendly and personable. Her team is one of her ultimate super powers!  Not all superheroes defeat villains after listening to long monologues full of self incriminating admissions. Not all superheroes finish off the bad guy with a POW! or WHAM!  But all superheroes save people...including my superhero.
My superhero DOES have a villain, one she's been fighting for a long time. Although she's never laid eyes this villain she knows his M.O.   She has studied his tricks and traps and has gathered many eye witness accounts from his victims.  She is not tricked by his shifty ways. She knows the damage and destruction that he is capable of and works tirelessly to provide citizens of this great city with a fully armed tool belt to defeat him.  Because she's never met him face to face, there is no dramatic POW! or WHAM! as she fights him.  However, I don't doubt for one minute that if she ran into him on the street she wouldn't hesitate to hit him with an uppercut or left hook to the jaw!  Besides, my superhero delivers plenty of figurative POW!s and WHAM!s to her fierce foe.  She fights the villain known as ED-eating disorder. ED tricked me. He made me believe he was my friend, a good guy, on my side. But while I was distracted with his rules and lengthy monologues, he trapped me. I found myself so ensnared that I couldn't get out and I was on my way to certain doom and destruction. But with a cry for help, my superhero came flying in to my rescue. She freed me from the trap and gave me tools to fight that dastardly villain ED now and next time he tries to ensnare me.
Once as I sat in her "secret lair", a mother and daughter walked in. The mothers face read like a book; uncertainty, fear, worry, anxiety. I wanted to reach over and hold her hand and tell her she and her daughter would be ok. After all, they were in the capable hands of a superhero! Some people might call her a therapist, but she will always be my superhero.  (Insert disco soundtrack here!)