Thank God for Jim Henson
My youngest son Harris is six years old, but because of his autism and his language delay, he communicates more like someone three or four. He’s a Gestalt Language Processor, which will mean nothing to 99 percent of you and a great deal to the other one percent.
Gestalt Language Processors tend to learn language in related chunks instead of learning it in a more linear fashion. He also has an unusual relationship with tenses. For example, when Harris last saw the doctor, he stood on the table and said, “Harris be a giant!” Instead of “I am a giant,” “I feel like a giant,” or “I’m pretending to be a giant.
Harris is ridiculously cute. It’s bonkers how adorable he is.
Harris knows his name, and his vocabulary increases daily, thanks in no small part to his wonderful therapists. In that respect, he’s like Elmo, the controversial star of Sesame Street.
That makes sense since Elmo is three and a half years old canonically.
When Harris was three and a half years old, his favorite things in the world were Sesame Street, The Muppet Babies, and The Muppets.
As a six-year-old, Harris’ favorite things in the world are Sesame Street, Muppet Babies, and The Muppets. There is a pretty good chance that three years from now, his favorite things in the world will be Sesame Street, Muppet Babies, and The Muppets.
For a few months Harris would refer to every old man he saw as Mr. Statler or Mr. Waldorf. For a solid year, he called my wife Mrs. Nanny, since that is the name of the beloved caretaker on both iterations Muppet Babies.
Declan's artwork for Harris
That is okay with me because I am, in some ways, a forty-eight-year-old husband, father, and small businessman, and three of my favorite things are Sesame Street, Muppet Babies, and The Muppets.
My older son Declan and I saw a talk with Dave Goelz, the puppeteer behind Gonzo, at the Center for Puppetry Arts a few months back. I was dazzled. It was like seeing Elvis Presley or the popular YouTuber Mr. Beast in person.
On a similar note, Kevin Clash is going to be at Dragoncon, a convention my son Declan is ecstatic about attending. I’m tempted to procure his autograph because he is a Sesame Street legend, but also, you know, the other stuff.
The Center for Puppetry Arts has a very cozy relationship with Jim Henson’s family, to the point that it feels like a Jim Henson Museum and a center for the only art that matters: puppetry.
When we’re at home, Harris will request “Muppet Babies Sesame Street on da TV,” and I have to explain to him that while The Muppets and Sesame Street are both somehow products of the same miraculous mind, there is a surprisingly little amount of Sesame Street/Muppets/Muppet Babies crossover material.
The worlds of Sesame Street and The Muppets have overlapped on occasion. For example, Big Bird has a cameo in The Muppet Movie, where he turns down a ride from Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear while en route to New York to make it on public television.
The place where The Muppets and Sesame Street overlap, other than my son’s vivid imagination, is the aforementioned Center for Puppetry Arts. It’s a wonderland with original puppets of pretty much all the major players in Sesame Street, The Muppets and Fraggle Rock, and various other Henson productions, like The Storyteller and Dog City as well.
My wife took a picture that ranks among my all-time favorites, of Harris looking up at Bert and Ernie's puppets behind glass. He’s not just a very happy little autistic boy; he’s in a holy place, making a sacred pilgrimage to what, for him, is truly the happiest place on earth.
The other happiest place on earth: Spirit Halloween
When I think about life’s fundamental unfairness, I tend to focus on Jim Henson dying young when he still had so much more to give, while Donald Trump will probably live to be 120 years old despite existing exclusively on fast-food, Adderall, and hatred.
When we ask Harris where he’d like to go, he tends to answer, “Sesame Street toys”, which means Target, Wal-Mart, or Barnes and Noble, all of which have a variety of Sesame Street toys.
Thank you, Jim Henson, for creating a world that my family adores and will never stop exploring and celebrating.
Nathan needs teeth that work, and his dental plan doesn't cover them, so he started a GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-nathans-journey-to-dental-implants. Give if you can!
Did you enjoy this article? Then consider becoming a patron here