I realized recently that of all the blogs I have written over the past few years, none of them have primarily been about my second oldest son.  I think that it is because I tend to focus my writing on either painful situations that I am trying to emotionally work through or on an accomplishment such as my oldest son achieving his dream of becoming a police officer.  My second oldest son, 26, has been quietly living an exemplary life of integrity, hard work and kindness; to me he is a superhero and this is my anonymous tribute to him.

Superheroes are often incognito by day.  They unobtrusively engage with the world around them and the people they interact with usually have no inkling that they have hidden super-powers that make them extraordinary.  My son is like that.

My son was only 15 when my older daughter began stealing at 12.  He undoubtedly missed out on “parent time” in his later teen years as we were distracted in trying to help the wayward child.  His older brother was 18 when all of that started and thus more insulated from the emotional chaos.  Still, my second son retained a certain grace throughout those years; a calm demeanor, an attitude of kindness and a clear mindset of right vs wrong.

He self-taught himself a lot of computer “know-how”.  At 16, he built his first computer by purchasing the separate components and then putting them together…and it worked.  Also at 16, he took the test for a GED so he could go straight to community college and take courses he was more interested in than high school courses.

He was 18 when we started our business and he helped us for a number of years in production.  He was supposed to work part time for us while attending community college but somewhere in those years he went full time.  He did get two 2-year degrees but we accidentally pulled him away from his love of computers when he went full time with us and then later became the production manager at another business.

Every so often I have reminded him of his dream of computers and game programming.  I am glad to say that he is transferring to the local university in a few weeks to get his 4-year degree.  I’m relieved that he is going back to pursue that dream he has had since 8^th grade.  Working in our business was fine for a few years but I have always known it was not his passion and I would have been sad to see him “stuck” in a field that he fell into only because his parents started a business.

One of my son’s gifts is his intelligence…there is no doubt that God gave him a very logical, powerful brain.  In a career, he will be happier in the long run laboring with his brain rather than with his hands in production.

His main super power though is the quiet but powerful life integrity he exhibits…day in and day out he lives his life according to a deeply felt inner conviction of what is right.  That internal compass needle is unwavering and it always points true north.  He will always be a superhero to me.