CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TO GET TO SESAME STREET?

No two alike

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A few weeks ago I caught the tale end of the 50th Anniversary celebration of Sesame Street on PBS. Watching it made my heart swell up with joy and then hearing all the guests tell stories of their favorite Sesame Street moments, killed me dead. I don’t think I could choose just one favorite moment. My favorite moments was every time Kermit or Grover sat on the brick wall, talking to a little kid. At the end of their conversation Kermit or Grover would hug the child. This is where I learned jealousy. I wanted to be that little kid so badly and I wanted to be hugged by Kermit and Grover. I just knew by looking at the kid’s face that getting that hug was the best feeling in the whole wide world.

I’m not sure that I learned my ABCs or numbers from watching Sesame Street. Actually, I don’t remember learning my ABCs as much as it just seems like I always knew them. I was reading before I started kindergarten. The lessons that I did learn from Sesame street are far more important than the ABCs or learning to count in Spanish. Sesame Street taught me that the world outside of my white rural bubble was filled with all kinds of people. Different colors. Different beliefs. Different needs. So much difference yet we all need, crave and offer love. For a long time I thought that maybe Sesame Street was making it all up. I would walk around the grocery store with my Mom and look at the people around me. You could not walk into the grocery store without saying hello to someone you knew. We all knew each other. We were all the same color, same religion. I would look around and wonder “where are those families that I see on Sesame Street?” Sesame Street showed me that my life was missing diversity.

I learned more about diversity and loving kindness from Sesame Street than I did from my own church.

Last night, I watched Joan Ganz Cooney and Dr. Lloyd Morrisett accept Kennedy Center Honors for Sesame Street. Big Bird and Elmo and Grover and few others all took the stage to celebrate. I still stare at Big Bird with the same awe and joy as I did as a small child. Sesame Street still brings joy to my heart and when the whole audience stood up and started singing along to Sing A Song, I knew that this joy is contagious and true for all of us.

So, what about you? What’s your favorite Sesame Street memory?