Superpower #6: Athleticism

 It is impossible to reflect on your list of superpowers for very long without waxing long and poetically about your athleticism. You are remarkably athletic and always have been. I’m not sure when I first realized your capabilities in this area, although some of my earliest memories are of pulling you off table and countertops. As soon as you could walk, you ran, you climbed, you jumped. You weren’t surrounded by babies your own age at that time; you spent all your time with your brother (2 ½ years older) and your sister (4 years older). It didn’t occur to me that you were exceptionally strong and physically gifted because you were all just playing together.

One of my favorite early stories illustrates how athletic you are. We were hosting a springtime party at our old house on Barbaralee. For some reason, I remember it as either Grace’s first communion or Lucy’s baptism, though both events put you at an older age than I swear you were at this party. In my memory, you are a little over a year old and new to walking, but maybe you were closer to two or even 3. Regardless, we had just erected a trampoline encased in a sturdy net in the backyard. It was one of those perfect, precious spring mornings drenched in sunlight. The trees were waving bridal blossoms in a warm breeze and all of us pale Midwesterners were emerging, blinking, into the warm promise of summer. I remember you in a white, lacy dress. I remember helping you onto the trampoline with your siblings and walking away. When I returned after greeting some guests, my cousin was approaching the trampoline with her own 2-year-old on her hip, similarly clad in pastel finery. She helped her onto the trampoline where you and your siblings were busily bouncing away, shrieking and giggling.

My cousin hovered protectively nearby, and I stopped to watch. Previously I had zipped you in with your siblings and hustled off to party hosting duties elsewhere. My cousin’s daughter clung, terrified, to the edge of the trampoline looking slightly horrified. She struggled to maintain a seated position while you bounced joyfully with your siblings who both outweighed you by quite a bit. It was the first time I realized that you were strong and athletic—well beyond your peers. Comparing you to a 4- and 6-year-old really wasn’t a reasonable comparison, though by the time you came into the family as the 3^rd baby in just under 4 years, I had long since abandoned consulting baby books about expected physical milestones. Did you walk early? I have no idea. It seems likely that you did, and that you rocketed through all the expected physical achievements rapidly and effortlessly. You’ve been doing that all along.

A few years later, I remember taking you to swimming lessons with your siblings. I had convinced the director to take you early, eschewing the typical 3-year-old requirement because you were clearly confident and ready even at the tender age of 2 and three quarters. A year later, when most of your preschool peers joined the lessons, you had progressed several levels. I vividly recall sitting on the sidelines nursing your little sister (and trying to keep yet another busy-body baby girl out of the water in between times) and watching your classmate dog paddling eagerly after rubber ducks, encased in a flotation device they called a swim belt. I turned my head to see you practicing dives in the deep end. At the end of that session, your instructor wrote that you had no trouble with the physical requirements of the class, but that you sometimes had “a little trouble listening.” I chuckled to myself at the time. You were a fine listener for someone who was not quite 4 years old. The problem was that most of your classmates were two to three years older than you and consequently had a bit of a maturity advantage.

And so your athletic achievements continued. You were always big and incredibly strong and coordinated and whenever we connected you with kids your own age, we realized anew how very athletic you were. You were the best on every team and in every sport we signed up for without exception. As we reached the age when players started to specialize in one sport or another, you reliably outperformed them in whatever game they were training for. You were just born athletic.

It ceased to be much of a surprise to us after a while, and we were neither surprised by it, nor especially impressed. It was just part of who you were.

I probably need to write a separate superpower about basketball--the sport you ended up choosing to love and focus on and where your athletic gifts have soared. Suffice it to say that when you put your mind and energy towards one sport over all others, your performance and accolades shot to the very highest heights. But before all that happened, you were a strong, cheerful, athletic little girl whose superpower manifested mainly in an ability to keep up with kids 2, 4 and even a lot more years older. 

 To paraphrase Spider-Man, “With great athleticism comes great responsibility.” I hope you’ll always use your remarkable strength, agility, and coordination to serve and inspire others. And, like you always do, use your superpowers to have a whole lot of fun in the big, beautiful life you’re launching into!