THANKFUL FRIDAY

By the time you read this, I will be driving through Kansas on my way to OKC for Quinn’s high school graduation.

That’s a heavy sentence to type.

It is surprising to me that Mental Health Awareness month has been so mentally difficult. There is nothing special about the month of May, no birthdays or anniversaries. Yet it has contained difficult losses and bittersweet memories and there’s still basically week left. All along the way, a voice has been whispering “Chris should be here.”

First of all, don’t feel bad that I’m gone. While I will miss spending time with each of you, I’m sure it will be an interesting time for me and I look forward to seeing all of you when you come over. To each of you I send my love. If on this side of life I’m able to watch over and help you out, know that I will. If I can’t, I’m sure I can at least be waiting for you when you come over. This all may sound silly to you guys, but what the hell, I’m gone—and who can argue with me?

Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. May each of yours be that—having each of you as a child of mine has certainly been one of the good things in my life. Know that I’ve always loved each of you with an eternal, bottomless love. A love that has nothing to do with each other, for I feel my love for each of you is total and all-encompassing. Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It’s a good life, enjoy it.

Jim Henson
Letter to his children, to be opened after his death

There is a generation of us who grew up watching Sesame Street and The Muppets, a generation who were molded and shaped by the creative works of Jim Henson. As I drove to work on Tuesday, the radio DJ went through a list of events that happened on May 16th. One event is that it has been twenty five years since the release of Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. Ouch. The other event he mentioned was Jim Henson’s passing in 1990. He passed away on May 16th from streptococcal pneumonia at age fifty three. I remember being in the checkout line at Walmart and seeing the cover of a magazine with Kermit the frog sitting next to an empty director’s chair bearing Jim Henson’s name. Tears streamed down my face whileI handed the cashier my money for my purchases. It was soon after the DJ’s announcement that I noticed various Jim Henson related stuff on social media and the above letter to his children caught my eye.

Years and years ago, Chris and I made our only just the two of us drive to my grandparents home in Mississippi. All previous trips had been with my parents, but this was the first time Chris and I had to make the trip on our own. My Pepaw had passed away and my parents had rushed out of town to get to my mother’s home. This would end up being the last trip I would ever make to Mississippi other than to drive through to get to someplace else. The first town we came to after crossing into the state was Greenville, the birth pace of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog. They have a tiny little Jim Henson museum and though I had driven through this place countless of times with my parents, we had never stopped. I can remember mentioning this to Chris as we came in to town and he immediately pulled over and into the parking lot for the museum. The museum is so small; we only spent ten or fifteen minutes in the space. Most of our time was spent reading over the hand drawn Christmas cards he would send to the museum every year.

Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling.

These are words that Chris would be telling Quinn today as we celebrate his move into new adventures and I have a feeling that Quinn knows these words to be true already. I would not be surprised if these are words that Chris has whispered into Quinn’s ear while he’s sleeping. So, to that voice that keeps whispering to me that Chris should be here, there is no need for you to whisper them.

He’s already here and in some ways has never left.

I am so grateful for the timing of this trip because I need some time away from my current responsibilities. More than anything I am grateful to be part of the celebration for this boy/man. He used to have the most violent sneezes and a disproportionate amount of snot would come out of his tiny nose to cover the lower part of his face. It was traumatizing to him and everyone else involved in the clean up process. There were times I was concerned that actual brain matter was coming out of his nose. So to see him succeeding and have legitimate life/career plans fills me up with joy. Traci and her Chris have raised a successful human. This does not amaze me, the idea that these two would in fact raise a successful human, but they are just as deserving of celebration as the graduate.

I raise my glass to them for doing the work while continuing to live a life that is fun, joyous and fulfilling.