Batman

I just heard a news flash about a man who was dressed up as Batman arrested for trespassing.  Immediately my mind flies to "Ty".  Ty was a kid who lived next to my Aunt and Uncle in Madison, WI.  Twice a year we would play with and stare in amazed wonderment at this odd duck.  We didn't have anything like him back home.  He definitely danced to the beat of his own drum.

On one of our later visits to Madison,  A.D. (after David) Ty had, what he called, a monorail in his yard.  Pablo has one, and it's really called a zip line.  We had an awesome time whipping from one end of the yard to the other.  For some reason I got in huge trouble from my Uncle Joe for going barefoot.  It was an odd thing, who cares if you're barefoot?  He wouldn't budge and told me to put on the shoes or go to my room.  I was angry at him and went stomping off (carrying my shoes) to what was my room for the visit.  I don't think he expected that one.  I remember him coming up and talking softly to me about his reasoning, which I can't recall, and I put my stupid shoes on.  My uncle was not a soft talker, ever.  That's probably why I remember it.

Anyway, back to Ty.  At some point since our last visit he decided that he was Batman.  Not playing batman, he WAS Batman.  He would run around fighting crime, and we would either stare blankly at him, or shake our heads, but he had the zip line, so we tolerated his oddness.  I think he was my age, so he would have been at least nine at the time.  Shortly after we returned home his obsession turned to Superman.  My Uncle told me on the phone one night that Ty had broken his arm.  He ordered a Superman kit in the mail, (garbage bag cape) went up on the garage roof, and jumped off because he was after all Superman, and could fly.  Uh, yeah..... not so much.

I often wonder what became of Ty.  I now realize that he was more than likely developmentally disabled, kind of a Forest Gump type.  While we thought he was weird, I'm glad that we were always kind to him.  Even if it was because we wanted to play on his zip line......  Holy Oddballs Batman!