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Batman and the Bride: How a wedding photo revealed a beautiful friendship

Two childhood friends show the beautiful meaning behind a legendary photo taken at the bride's wedding.

Sometimes a picture captivates our hearts and tells a story that says more than words can. And one picture taken at a wedding here in Knoxville did just that.

One West Knoxville neighborhood is extra safe with Batman patrolling the streets.

“People need me sometimes. When someone says ‘Hey Web, can you save my life?’ And I say, ‘You can do that by yourself. You don't need me anymore to save the world," Web Sowell said.

Web has Fragile X Syndrome and has been Batman since he was just a kid. The disorder also goes by FXS and Martin-Bell syndrome -- and comes with a range of developmental issues, usually stunting intellectual development and social interaction.

It was Web's disorder, though, that brought him into Dudley Long Glisson's life -- and the the two have been friends since they were both children.

“As a little boy he was Batman and so my brother, and I kind of took him under our wings and we all became really good friends,” Glisson said.

This special friendship has blossomed over the years between Web and Glisson.

“We went to different schools for the majority of our life, but in high school I went to West and Web did too,” Glisson said. “We had the luxury of going to school together. I drove him and his sister Carrie to school in the mornings.”

Now Dudley is older. She lives in Atlanta, but the bond with Web is still there.

“They were such a big part of our lives. Every time I pull in the driveway he's there waiting for me or for anyone to welcome them," Glisson said.

So it only made sense that Web was part of Dudley's big day.

“As I was getting ready, all of the bridesmaids all started freaking out. ‘There's Batman, Batman is in the street!’ Of course it doesn't take me by surprise because I've grown up with him since I was a little girl,” Glisson said.

She went outside to see Web and that's when the special moment was captured.

“As we were on the front steps, I realized I had a cape on, too, and he has his Batman cape in his signature stance. So I realized my veil was a cape and I just held it up, and we just took one picture together that really means a lot to both of us and our families," Glisson said.

Her best friend, Callie McCamy Jubran, quickly got out her camera.

“I just happened to be in the window watching and I just was like this angle is perfect and I snapped the picture and it tells such a beautiful story,” Jubran said.

Dudley's father Arthur Long was so moved he posted the picture on Facebook, and it got a lot of attention.

“I’m usually not a person who looks at Facebook or posts anything, but that was such a special day for my daughter. I guess what really got me, I realized that both my children probably gained more from knowing Web than he gained from knowing them,” Long said.

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