He made us believe that man could fly.

On October 10, 2004, legendary actor and activist Christopher Reeve passed away after heart failure. It goes without saying that he will be missed.

I was in Atlanta International Airport when I first got the news about his death.

Running down a terminal desperately trying to make a flight home, I happened to glance at a TV monitor inside a newsstand. It had a photo of Reeve; beneath was a caption that read, Christopher Reeve, 1952-2004. I slowed to a walk, wanting to investigate. I couldn’t, no time.

What was happening? I sat on the plane, out of breath, confused, shaken, sad. The image on the screen was burned into my mind. Could this really have happened? Was there some mistake? Maybe I read it wrong; maybe someone made a mistake. Something like this surely couldn’t have happened.

Sadly, it did. Christopher Reeve, my childhood hero, the man I thought was invincible, the man I wanted to be, had died.

One of my earliest memories was sitting in front of the TV in my Superman costume watching those classic movies. I embraced Reeve’s characters.

I didn’t only want to be like Superman, I also wanted to be Clark Kent. At the age of 4, I was using words like “swell” and “golly.”

Man, did I want to be him.

I once wore a suit to kindergarten with my Superman costume. When my mom asked me why, I said, “There might be trouble at school today.”

When I got home, mom asked me if I saved the class.

“No,” I said. “I was just real hot.”

I wore that costume everywhere – to the store, to school, to bed and even to the park.

When other parents saw my mom with Superman sitting in the shopping cart, they were always quick to tell her to be careful, that I may and try and fly.

When she asked me if I would ever try I said I wouldn’t, “just in case my powers took a day off.”

I wanted to be just like Christopher Reeve.

Recently, Reeve has had a recurring role as Dr. Virgil Swann on the WB hit TV show Smallville. The show chronicles the high school of Clark Kent. In real life, Reeve’s character gave Clark valuable information on his past, a sort of passing of the torch from the old to the new Superman.

As well as being a cultural icon, Reeve also had incredible will. After falling from a horse, Reeve cracked critical vertebrae in his neck, causing paralysis.

Reeve contemplated suicide; he contemplated giving up.

But he didn’t. He looked at his wife, his son, his children. He had too much to live for. Sometimes his youngest son would sit on his lap and hug him.

“That,” he said, “is motivation.”

Fighting not only for a cure, but against what doctors said couldn’t be done, he worked. Every day of his life was another struggle. His fight wasn’t just for life, but for his family.

After his accident, Reeve acted in numerous roles, took on directing and wrote a book (a second book was in the works at the time of his death).

He was the real Superman.

Reeve once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

His circumstances were, without a doubt, overwhelming.

Christopher Reeve is a hero, and he will be missed.