Watching Batkid in Beirut…

While watching Batkid save Gotham City at my computer here in Beirut, I couldn’t help but think of all the kids with cancer that I’ve gotten to know over the past year at St. Jude’s in Beirut. As I watched Batkid defeat the Riddler and receive the key to San Francisco, I wondered what wishes the Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian kids with whom I play each week at St. Jude’s would make–if they had the chance. Would they want to be a superhero too–and if so, which one (perhaps Spiderman, since our “Spiderman” computer game is the most popular one in the playroom)? Or maybe, since many of the children at St. Jude’s are Syrian refugees, their greatest wish would be to get better, and return home to Syria in peace…