Nate proudly displays his gift from Adam.

Nate straps on his Batman mask as Grandma Carey chuckles, most likely recalling when Nate played Batman at age 3.

Jill models the Batman mask (turns out, it doesn’t go well with blonde).

< by Jill >

In the days following Halloween, Nate’s younger brother perused the leftover costumes at a big-box store. As the story goes, his eyes alighted upon a Batman mask and registered one thought:   I gotta get this for Nate.

Into the basket it went.

On Christmas morning, Nate discovered this Batman mask under the Christmas tree. The mask’s two elastic straps hugged another package; a package covered in Batman wrapping paper. Are you noticing a theme?

Nate’s eyes brightened when he spotted it, and he released the straps on the spot. Next thing you know, he’s wearing the mask and growling I’m Batman! and I’m not afraid – I’m angry! in his burliest Christian Bale/Bruce Wayne voice.

Later in the day, Nate passed the mask to his younger cousins. For the next several hours, 4-foot caped crusaders raced in circles throughout the house, pursuing villains of the worst kind: Jokers, Riddlers, and little sisters.

Christmas evokes all kinds of feelings — love, joy, and hope for the coming year — but it also possesses the power to kindle unbridled, childlike excitement. For Nate, the Batman mask did exactly this, as did the attached gift — it contained a brand-new Batman video game.

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What gift made you feel like a kid again?