Elmo, Say it Isn't So

One of the saddest things I recently heard was the scandal involving Elmo's puppeteer, Kevin Clash.  All the characters in Sesame Street are pretty special but Elmo captured my daughter's heart and mine twenty five years ago when she was five years old and I began to watch the show for her sake.  His sweet, distinctive and innocent voice was an immediate hit with my special child, and although I heard he taped episodes till the year 2014, Sesame Street will never be the same without Kevin Clash.  The show may go on with another puppeteer as Elmo but there was only one original and I'm afraid our beloved Elmo will eventually have to fade out into the sunset, same as his now beleaguered owner.  Are the allegations true?  Is Kevin Clash a victim of fame?  Why are these people coming out of the woodwork now?  Whatever he did or didn't do, Kevin Clash created a legend, an unforgettable character and for that we should be grateful.  This was a man who obviously loved his work and this has to be devastating to him.  Human beings are complex and maybe he had a dark side, a shameful secret, it's sad but that doesn't take away his contribution.  He made millions of children happy throughout the world, he brought us magic, that part can't not be tarnished, so let's not judge him too harshly.

The Tragic Aftermath of Sandy

Monster storm Sandy decided to hit New York with a vengeance.  Not since 9/11 did we feel the same sense of tragedy, vulnerability and despair.  Even if you were lucky enough not to lose power or get flooded, you didn't escape unscathed.  Images of others suffering and mourning great losses was enough to tug at your heartstrings, to say nothing of witnessing the nightmarish lines for gas that still seem to go on forever.  I lost power for eight days and walked around feeling sorry for myself, but my discomfort and misery was nothing compared to that of those who lost everything.  Yet I discovered something about myself.  Misery does not love company.  When you're suffering, you don't want to hear that someone else has it worse.  You want validation for your feelings at the moment.  Later on, when the immediate misery ends and you have more perspective, you feel a sense of gratitude that it wasn't worse for you.  You feel ashamed that you were such a baby, and guilty for saying "Thank God it wasn't me."  But the fact remains that nature proved once more that it could turn anywhere, anytime and shatter our lives temporarily or permanently.  It could kill us mercilessly and take all the comforts we fill our lives with with one swift stroke.  When I first heard the wind, I was laying in bed with the covers over my head and felt afraid the windows would shatter with the impact of the devastating winds, but what struck me most of all was that the wind sounded like a lament, a long, mournful lament, as if already regretting the destruction it would leave in its wake.  This almost grotesque singsong seemed to go on forever filling me with fright and at the same time with a morbid fascination.  It was the cry of death and destruction approaching its victims.  It was our 9/11 of natural disasters and it will scar us forever because there are tragic events in life that you simply never get over.

The Real Loss on Tuesday

Mitt Romney lost the election on Tuesday and all his supporters are hurting but the country lost more, a lot more.  The country lost the opportunity of having a real leader in the White House.  A leader who loves America and wanted to restore it to its rightful place in the world.  A leader who allowed himself to be put through the meat grinder from the beginning because he knew he could make a difference, because he saw the way the country was heading and wanted to stop it before it was too late.  He was denied that opportunity and America is the real loser.  Mitt Romney ran a courageous, magnificent campaign, and he would have made a great president, a president who would honor the White House and not use it to create class warfare, a leader who would restore the respect we have lost throughout the world because of Mr. Obama and his misguided policies.  He showed a lot of class and dignity from beginning to end and he will be sorely missed.  So with a heavy heart, it's time to say farewell to you gallant warrier, we shall miss you.  We caught a glimpse of your soul during the campaign and this makes this loss all the more painful and devastating to us.