Holy Heart On a String!

My world was rocked this morning while out driving in the Arctic temperatures currently plaguing the midwest. No, don't worry - I wasn't in an accident. Though emotionally, it almost feels as if I was.

While making a turn onto my street, the Batman figurine hanging from my rear-view mirror broke off and fell to the floor of the passenger side seat. Yes, I pulled over. The damage needed to be assessed immediately.

Batman always hangs from my rear-view mirror. He's done so for at least the last 15 years (spanning two cars, maybe three). And during that time - and I hope I'm not jinxing myself by mentioning this - I have never been in an automobile accident. (A couple of inconvenient scrapes here and there, but never anything major. Or minor, really.)

Is that because I'm a good driver with excellent peripheral vision, reflexes, and steering ability? Perhaps. But I also believe that Batman has protected me. He hovers above the dashboard, watching over me, like a dark knight. With each year that passes, the superstition becomes more cemented.

So to see my guardian tumble to the floor was more than a bit jolting. And to see what had actually happened was rather troubling.


Batman had fallen before, when the string broke free from the suction cup it was attached to. (The suction cup doesn't hold Batman to the rear-view mirror; it's used to keep the knot in place.) But it hadn't happened in years. And besides, this was different. This time, the string itself broke. Worn away, perhaps, after years of swaying and twirling. Like so many of us, it's just getting old. And man, that's kind of a bummer.

I hope this isn't a bad omen, or an ominous sign of what's to come.

I'll fix you, buddy. Stay with me. Don't you give up on me. We've been through way too much together, some of which you probably wish you hadn't seen. I need you back.