Good-bye, Smallville.

Despite countless attempts on my part, most of my life I've been, well, a nerd. In high school my best friends and I spent hours dreaming about what life would be like if we married Hanson brothers. We had vocab parties instead of drinking parties (shocking that two of three of us became English teachers), and we would often drive slowly down the streets of our town waving out of rolled down windows (to no one in particular) with music blaring. We called them "parades". I'm certain others called us "losers".

I have a lot of favorites that contribute to my loser-nerd status. The short list includes: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Twilight, Scrabble, and most superheroes. As a kid I admired Batman and Robin. I remember watching Lois & Clark with my dad and dreamed that one day I would be a quippy and talented writer like Lois Lane who found her Superman. (FYI: I did find my Clark Kent.) When I met my husband, the nerd in me LOVED that he was a comic book fanatic. (Doesn't fanatic have a nicer connotation than "freak" or "nerd"?!) Then Michael introduced me to Smallville, and I fell in love again. 

Tonight, we'll say good-bye to Tom Welling's Clark Kent. After ten seasons, the naive farm boy is ready to put on tights and a cape and become our beloved Man of Steel. For those of you who don't have the same love for Kal-El (Superman's Kryptonian name), I'm giving you...

The Top Five Reasons Superman is the 

Greatest Superhero of All Time

5. Any guy that can change his identity completely with accessories deserves some serious respect. 

4. A crazy awesome posse of b.a. good guys, aka the Justice League call him their leader. 

3. Family is a priority. Ma and Pa Kent raised a man with good, old fashioned values. Another example that nurture is just as (if not more) important than nature.

2. Beautiful, brainy brunettes turn him on. 

1. He's a protector of the innocent. 

At the end of the day, the nerd in me loves the sci-fi of superheroes, but the part of my soul that believes in the end goodness and honesty prevail, will always love Superman. He is symbol of all that is good and admirable in this world. (It doesn't hurt that there are many similarities between Superman and Jesus either.)